System and method for inhibiting automatic movement of a barrier

ABSTRACT

A system and method for inhibiting automatic movement of a barrier that includes determining a current state of the barrier when a vehicle travels through at least one first zone associated with the barrier. The system and method also include analyzing sensor data to determine if at least one: individual or object is located within a movement path of the barrier. The system and method further include inhibiting a sending of the at least one barrier control signal that is automatically sent to move the barrier once the vehicle travels through at least one second zone upon determining that the at least one: individual or object is located within the movement path of the barrier. Additionally, the system and method include presenting a user interface alert relating to inhibiting the automatic movement of the barrier.

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/542,755 filed on Aug. 8, 2017, which is expressly incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

In many cases, movable barriers such as entrance gates and garage doorsmay be mechanically operated to open or close as a vehicle is arrivingtowards a barrier or departing away from the barrier. In many cases, thevehicle may be located in an area capable of communicating via radiofrequency communication with a controller of the barrier in order toactuate the opening or closing of the barrier without the driver of thevehicle being able to view a movement path (e.g., opening path orclosing path) of the barrier to determine if an individual or object islocated within the movement path.

In some cases, when the vehicle is arriving towards the barrier, theopening of the barrier such an entrance gate may be actuated before adriver has an opportunity to observe if an individual or object isobstructing the opening path of the gate. Similarly, when the vehicle isdeparting away from the barrier, the closing of the barrier such asgarage door may be actuated even if an individual or object may obstructthe closing path of the garage door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect, a computer-implemented method for inhibitingautomatic movement of a barrier that includes determining a currentstate of the barrier when a vehicle travels through at least one firstzone associated with the barrier. The method also includes analyzingsensor data to determine if at least one: individual or object islocated within a movement path of the barrier. At least one barriercontrol signal is sent to automatically control movement to open orclose the barrier based on the current state of the barrier. The methodadditionally includes inhibiting a sending of the at least one barriercontrol signal that is automatically sent to move the barrier once thevehicle travels through at least one second zone upon determining thatat least one: individual or object is located within the movement pathof the barrier. The method further includes presenting a user interfacealert relating to inhibiting the automatic movement of the barrier.

According to another aspect, a system for inhibiting automatic movementof a barrier that includes a memory storing instructions when executedby a processor cause the processor to determine a current state of thebarrier when a vehicle travels through at least one first zoneassociated with the barrier. The instructions also cause the processorto analyze sensor data to determine if at least one: individual orobject is located within a movement path of the barrier. At least onebarrier control signal is sent to automatically control movement to openor close the barrier based on the current state of the barrier. Theinstructions additionally cause the processor to inhibit a sending ofthe at least one barrier control signal that is automatically sent tomove the barrier once the vehicle travels through at least one secondzone upon determining that at least one: individual or object is locatedwithin the movement path of the barrier. The instructions further causethe processor to present a user interface alert relating to inhibitingthe automatic movement of the barrier.

According to still another aspect, a computer readable storage mediumstoring instructions that when executed by a computer, which includes atleast a processor, causes the computer to perform a method that includesdetermining a current state of a barrier when a vehicle travels throughat least one first zone associated with the barrier. The instructionsalso include analyzing sensor data to determine if at least one:individual or object is located within a movement path of the barrier.At least one barrier control signal is sent to automatically controlmovement to open or close the barrier based on the current state of thebarrier. The instructions additionally include inhibiting a sending ofthe at least one barrier control signal that is automatically sent tomove the barrier once the vehicle travels through at least one secondzone upon determining that at least one: individual or object is locatedwithin the movement path of the barrier. The instructions furtherinclude presenting a user interface alert relating to inhibiting theautomatic movement of the barrier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an operating environment for implementingsystems and methods within a vehicle for inhibiting automatic movementof a movable barrier according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative example of a plurality of zones associatedwith the barrier that may be applied when the vehicle is determined tobe arriving towards the barrier according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative example of a plurality of zones associatedwith the barrier that may be applied when the vehicle is determined tobe departing away from the barrier according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a process flow diagram of a method for inhibiting orproviding automatic movement of the barrier when the vehicle isdetermined to be arriving towards the barrier according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 4B is an illustrative example of a scenario in which the barriercontrol application may inhibit sending of at least one barrier controlsignal during the arrival of the vehicle towards the barrier accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5A is a process flow diagram of a method for inhibiting orproviding automatic movement of the barrier when the vehicle isdetermined to be departing away from the barrier according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5B is an illustrative example of a scenario in which the barriercontrol application may inhibit sending of at least one barrier controlsignal during the departure of the vehicle away from the barrieraccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative example of the barrier movement inhibitionalert presented on the display unit of the vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram of a method for inhibiting automaticmovement of the barrier according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following includes definitions of selected terms employed herein.The definitions include various examples and/or forms of components thatfall within the scope of a term and that can be used for implementation.The examples are not intended to be limiting.

A “bus”, as used herein, refers to an interconnected architecture thatis operably connected to other computer components inside a computer orbetween computers. The bus can transfer data between the computercomponents. The bus can be a memory bus, a memory controller, aperipheral bus, an external bus, a crossbar switch, and/or a local bus,among others. The bus can also be a vehicle bus that interconnectscomponents inside a vehicle using protocols such as Media OrientedSystems Transport (MOST), Controller Area network (CAN), LocalInterconnect Network (LIN), among others.

“Computer communication”, as used herein, refers to a communicationbetween two or more computing devices (e.g., computer, personal digitalassistant, cellular telephone, network device) and can be, for example,a network transfer, a file transfer, an applet transfer, an email, ahypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) transfer, and so on. A computercommunication can occur across, for example, a wireless system (e.g.,IEEE 802.11), a Bluetooth® communication system, a radio frequencycommunication system (e.g., LF radio frequency), an Ethernet system(e.g., IEEE 802.3), a token ring system (e.g., IEEE 802.5), a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a point-to-point system, acircuit switching system, a packet switching system, among others.

A “disk”, as used herein can be, for example, a magnetic disk drive, asolid state disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a tape drive, a Zip drive,a flash memory card, and/or a memory stick. Furthermore, the disk can bea CD-ROM (compact disk ROM), a CD recordable drive (CD-R drive), a CDrewritable drive (CD-RW drive), and/or a digital video ROM drive (DVDROM). The disk can store an operating system that controls or allocatesresources of a computing device.

A “database”, as used herein can refer to table, a set of tables, a setof data stores and/or methods for accessing and/or manipulating thosedata stores. Some databases can be incorporated with a disk as definedabove.

A “memory”, as used herein can include volatile memory and/ornon-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include, for example, ROM(read only memory), PROM (programmable read only memory), EPROM(erasable PROM), and EEPROM (electrically erasable PROM). Volatilememory can include, for example, RAM (random access memory), synchronousRAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double datarate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DRRAM). The memory canstore an operating system that controls or allocates resources of acomputing device.

A “module”, as used herein, includes, but is not limited to,non-transitory computer readable medium that stores instructions,instructions in execution on a machine, hardware, firmware, software inexecution on a machine, and/or combinations of each to perform afunction(s) or an action(s), and/or to cause a function or action fromanother module, method, and/or system. A module may also include logic,a software controlled microprocessor, a discrete logic circuit, ananalog circuit, a digital circuit, a programmed logic device, a memorydevice containing executing instructions, logic gates, a combination ofgates, and/or other circuit components. Multiple modules may be combinedinto one module and single modules may be distributed among multiplemodules.

An “operable connection”, or a connection by which entities are“operably connected”, is one in which signals, physical communications,and/or logical communications can be sent and/or received. An operableconnection can include a wireless interface, a physical interface, adata interface and/or an electrical interface.

A “processor”, as used herein, processes signals and performs generalcomputing and arithmetic functions. Signals processed by the processorcan include digital signals, data signals, computer instructions,processor instructions, messages, a bit, a bit stream, or other meansthat can be received, transmitted and/or detected. Generally, theprocessor can be a variety of various processors including multiplesingle and multicore processors and co-processors and other multiplesingle and multicore processor and co-processor architectures. Theprocessor can include various modules to execute various functions.

A “portable device”, as used herein, is a computing device typicallyhaving a display screen with user input (e.g., touch, keyboard) and aprocessor for computing. Portable devices include, but are not limitedto, handheld devices, mobile devices, smart phones, laptops, tablets ande-readers. In some embodiments, a “portable device” could refer to aremote device that includes a processor for computing and/or acommunication interface for receiving and transmitting data remotely.

A “vehicle”, as used herein, refers to any moving vehicle that iscapable of carrying one or more human occupants and is powered by anyform of energy. The term “vehicle” includes, but is not limited to:cars, trucks, vans, minivans, SUVs, motorcycles, scooters, boats,go-karts, amusement ride cars, rail transport, personal watercraft, andaircraft. In some cases, a motor vehicle includes one or more engines.Further, the term “vehicle” can refer to an electric vehicle (EV) thatis capable of carrying one or more human occupants and is poweredentirely or partially by one or more electric motors powered by anelectric battery. The EV can include battery electric vehicles (EV) andplug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The term “vehicle” can alsorefer to an autonomous vehicle and/or self-driving vehicle powered byany form of energy. The autonomous vehicle may or may not carry one ormore human occupants. Further, the term “vehicle” can include vehiclesthat are automated or non-automated with pre-determined paths orfree-moving vehicles.

A “value” and “level”, as used herein can include, but is not limitedto, a numerical or other kind of value or level such as a percentage, anon-numerical value, a discrete state, a discrete value, a continuousvalue, among others. The term “value of X” or “level of X” as usedthroughout this detailed description and in the claims refers to anynumerical or other kind of value for distinguishing between two or morestates of X. For example, in some cases, the value or level of X may begiven as a percentage between 0% and 100%. In other cases, the value orlevel of X could be a value in the range between 1 and 10. In stillother cases, the value or level of X may not be a numerical value, butcould be associated with a given discrete state, such as “not X”,“slightly x”, “x”, “very x” and “extremely x”.

I. System Overview

Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes ofillustrating one or more exemplary embodiments and not for purposes oflimiting same, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an operating environment100 for implementing systems and methods within a vehicle 102 forinhibiting automatic movement of a movable barrier (barrier) 104according to an exemplary embodiment. The components of the environment100, as well as the components of other systems, hardware architectures,and software architectures discussed herein, can be combined, omitted,or organized into different architectures for various embodiments.

Generally, the environment includes a barrier movement controlapplication (barrier control application) 106 that is executed toautomatically control the movement of the barrier 104 that may include,but may not be limited to a garage door, a gate (e.g., one or more entryor exit gate doorways), a door (e.g., a residential door), etc., basedon a current state (e.g., opened state or closed state) of the barrier104 from a vehicle 102 based on a current location of the vehicle 102,traveling direction of the vehicle 102 and/or current opened or closedstate of the barrier 104. More specifically, the barrier controlapplication 106 may determine the (traveling or parking) location of thevehicle 102, the vehicle 102 is either arriving towards a location atwhich the barrier 104 is located (arriving towards the barrier 104) ordeparting away from the location at which the barrier 104 is located(departing away from the barrier 104), and the like.

As discussed in much detail below, the barrier control application 106may be used to determine one or more zones associated with the barrier104 that may be applied by the application 106 to send one or more typesof signals to a barrier controller 108 based on one or more factors. Theone or more types of signals may be used to determine a current state ofthe barrier 104, to send a command to traverse the barrier 104 to theopened state (e.g., to fully open the barrier 104), traverse the barrier104 to the closed state (e.g., to fully close the barrier 104). Asdiscussed below, the barrier control application 106 may operate toinhibit the automatic sending of the one or more types of signals totraverse the barrier 104 to the opened or closed state based on thedetection of one or more individuals or objects that are located withina movement path of the barrier 104 (e.g., opening path or closing pathof the barrier 104).

More particularly, the barrier control application 106 may operate toensure that the barrier 104 such as an entrance/exit gate or garage dooris not automatically moved to open or close the barrier 104 to traversethe barrier 104 when the individual(s) or object(s) is detected withinthe space that is occupied by the barrier 104 as it is opened or closedotherwise described as movement path of the barrier 104. For example,(as illustrated in FIG. 4B), the application 106 may ensure thatautomatic opening of an entrance gate that may occur upon the arrival ofthe vehicle 102 towards the entrance gate is inhibited when an object(e.g., other vehicle) is detected to be located within the space that isoccupied by the barrier 104 as it is opened. Additionally, the barriercontrol application 106 may operate to ensure that the barrier 104 suchas a garage door is not automatically closed upon the departure of thevehicle 102 from the barrier 104 when an individual or object isdetected within the movement path of the barrier 104. For example, (asillustrated in FIG. 5B) the application 106 may ensure that automaticclosure of the garage door that may occur when the vehicle 102 departsfrom the barrier 104 is inhibited when an object is detected to belocated within the space that is occupied by the barrier 104 as it'sclosed in a downward direction.

As discussed in more detail below, upon detecting an individual orobject within the movement path and inhibiting the automatic movement ofthe barrier 104, the barrier control application 106 may present abarrier movement inhibition alert (illustrated in FIG. 6) that mayprovide a user (e.g., driver of the vehicle 102) with an alert regardingthe inhibiting of the automatic movement of the barrier 104 as vehicle102 is arriving towards the barrier 104 or departing away from thebarrier 104. The barrier movement inhibition alert may also present thecurrent status of the barrier 104 as an opened state, a partially openedstate, or a closed state. More specifically, the barrier movementinhibition alert may present the current state of the barrier 104 as theopened state when the barrier 104 is stationary and within a fullyopened state. Likewise, the barrier movement inhibition alert maypresent the current state of the barrier 104 as the closed state whenthe barrier 104 is stationary and within a fully closed state.Additionally, the barrier movement inhibition alert may present the realtime status of the barrier 104 as the partially opened state that mayindicate an opening level (e.g., percentage) of the barrier 104 as it isstationary or in movement to complete the process of being opened orclosed. The barrier movement inhibition alert may also provide the userwith a user input that may be utilized to manually send one or moresignals to move the barrier 104 upon inhibiting the automatic sending ofthe signal(s).

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the vehicle 102 may include aplurality of components that may be operably connected for computingcommunication via a bus (not shown) (e.g., a Controller Area Network(CAN) or a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) protocol bus), aninput/output interface (I/O interface) and/or other wired and wirelesstechnologies. The plurality of components of the vehicle 102 maygenerally include an electronic control unit (ECU) 110, a head unit 112,a display unit 114, a storage unit 116, and a telematics control unit(TCU) 120. Additionally, the plurality of components of the vehicle 102may also include a plurality of vehicle systems 122 and a plurality ofvehicle sensors 124 that are utilized to detect the presence of at leastone individual or at least one object located within the movement pathof the barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the ECU 110 of the vehicle 102 may include aprocessor (not shown), a memory (not shown), a disk (not shown), and aninput/output (I/O) interface (not shown), which are each operablyconnected for computer communication via a bus (not shown). The I/Ointerface provides software and hardware to facilitate data input andoutput between the components of the ECU 110 and other components,networks, and data sources, of the environment 100. In one embodiment,the ECU 110 may execute one or more operating systems, applications,and/or interfaces that are associated with the vehicle 102 and/or theplurality of vehicle systems 122.

In one embodiment, the ECU 110 may execute the barrier controlapplication 106 when a battery/accessory state of the vehicle 102 isenabled. Once executed, the barrier control application 106 may includecomponents (discussed in more detail below) that may send commands tothe components of the vehicle 102 and/or to components external to thevehicle 102 that include but are not limited to the barrier controller108 operably connected to the barrier 104. In one or more embodiments,the ECU 110 may utilize sensor data provided by the plurality of vehiclesensors 124 to detect the at least one individual and/or the at leastone object that is located within the movement path of the barrier 104.As discussed below, as the ECU 110 executes the barrier controlapplication 106, one or more components of the application 106 mayreceive and analyze various types of sensor data provided by theplurality of vehicle sensors 124 to detect at least one individual or atleast one object to further inhibit the sending of the one or morebarrier control signals to move the barrier 104 to the opened state orthe closed state.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of vehicle sensors 124 of thevehicle 102 may include the image sensors 134, RADAR/LADAR sensors 136,and vehicle dynamics sensors 138. In one embodiment, the image sensors134 may include a plurality of external and internal cameras that mayinclude, but may not be limited to, an infrared camera, a digitalcamera, a stereo camera, a video camera (camera types not individuallyshown), and the like that may be mounted at one or more areas outside ofand/or inside of the vehicle 102. In some embodiments, the image sensors134 may include a plurality of cameras (not shown) that may be mountedat one or more external and interior locations of the vehicle 102 thatmay include, but may not be limited to, one or more bumpers (not shown),one or more external or internal light fixtures of the vehicle 102, adashboard of the vehicle 102, a ceiling panel of the vehicle 102, sidemirrors of the vehicle 102, a rear view mirror of the vehicle 102, sidepanels of the vehicle 102, one or more door/door handles of the vehicle102, (all external and interior locations not individually shown) andthe like.

In an exemplary embodiment, the image sensors 134 may be configured toprovide a 360 degree stereoscopic view of the surrounding environment ofthe vehicle 102. The image sensors 134 may be configured to combineimage pixels that correspond to the one or more points in a physicalscene observed by the plurality of cameras. The image sensors 134 mayprovide image sensor data that includes a sequence of images/video thatmay pertain to an exterior environment of the vehicle 102. In oneembodiment, the barrier control application 106 may communicate with theimage sensors 134 to receive the image data as the vehicle 102 is withinan image capturing distance of the barrier 104. As discussed below, thebarrier control application 106 may utilize logic to analyze the one ormore images of the barrier 104 to detect if the at least one individualand/or the at least one object is located within the movement path ofthe barrier 104.

The RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 of the plurality of vehicle sensors 124 mayinclude, but may not be limited to, a millimeter wave radar, a laserdetection and range sensor, an infrared sensor, a thermal sensor, andthe like. Various alternate or additional hardware devices will beapparent for inclusion as the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136. The RADAR/LADARsensors 136 may be disposed at one or more areas of the vehicle 102 thatmay include a front bumper, door panels, vehicle mirrors, a rear bumper,a roof, a floorboard, (areas of the vehicle 102 not individually shown)and the like. In one embodiment, the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may providethe barrier control application 106 with sensor wave data pertaining tosensing at least one obstacle that may exist within the movement path ofthe barrier 104. In one embodiment, the barrier control application 106may communicate with the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 to receive the sensorwave data that pertains to the movement path of the barrier 104 as it ismoved to the opened state and/or the closed state. As discussed below,the barrier control application 106 may utilize logic to analyze thesensor wave data pertaining to the space to detect if the at least oneindividual and/or the at least one object is located within the movementpath of the barrier 104.

In one or more embodiments, the vehicle dynamics sensors 138 maycommunicate with one or more components of the vehicle 102 that mayinclude the ECU 110, an engine (not shown), a transmission (not shown),brakes (not shown), the plurality of vehicle systems 122, and the liketo determine vehicle dynamics information. In some embodiments, thevehicle dynamics information may be evaluated by the barrier controlapplication 106 to evaluate vehicle engine operation, vehicle speed,vehicle braking, vehicle steering, engine RPM, etc.

Referring to the head unit 112 of the vehicle 102, the head unit 112 mayinclude internal processing memory, an interface circuit, and bus lines(components of the head unit not shown) for transferring data, sendingcommands, and communicating with the components of the vehicle 102directly and/or through the ECU 110. In one or more embodiments, the ECU110 may execute one or more operating systems, applications, and/orinterfaces that are associated to the vehicle 102, the plurality ofvehicle systems 122.

In one embodiment, the head unit 112 may be connected to an infotainmentsystem 118. The infotainment system 118 may act as an information hub ofthe vehicle 102 that presents and delivers information to the user(e.g., audio, video, HVAC, barrier controls, etc.), In one embodiment,the infotainment system 118 may be operably connected to a barriercontrol system 130 of the vehicle 102 to send and receive data signalsthat may be utilized to remotely control the barrier 104. Theinfotainment system 118 may also be utilized to provide the barrierstatus user interface to the user through a display unit 114 operablyconnected to the infotainment system 118.

The display unit 114 may be disposed within a center stack area of thevehicle 102. Based on the operation of the infotainment system 118, thedisplay unit 114 may display one or more vehicle human machineinterfaces (vehicle HMI) to provide the driver of the vehicle 102 withvarious types of information and/or to receive one or more inputs fromthe driver of the vehicle 102. More specifically, the vehicle HMI maypertain to one or more operating systems, vehicle system interfaces, andapplication interfaces, including interfaces pertaining to the barriercontrol application 106. For example, the vehicle HMI may present one ormore user interfaces of the barrier control application 106 including abarrier configuration user interface (not shown) and the barriermovement inhibition alert. In one or more embodiments, the infotainmentsystem 118 may communicate with one or more additional display units(not shown) within the vehicle 102 that may include, but may not belimited to, a meter display and a head up display that may additionallyor alternatively present the vehicle HMI.

In one embodiment, the head unit 112 may be operably connected to one ormore notification devices (not shown) within the vehicle 102. Moreparticularly, the head unit 112 may communicate with one or more hapticdevices (not shown) (e.g., haptic steering wheel, haptic seats, hapticgear shifter) audio devices (not shown) (e.g., audio system, speakers),etc. that may also be used to provide the barrier movement inhibitionalert relating to inhibiting the automatic movement of the barrier 104based on the detection of the at least one individual or object. Inother words, the head unit 112 may provide such notificationsindependent of the operation of the infotainment system 118.

In an exemplary embodiment, the vehicle 102 may additionally include astorage unit 116. The storage unit 116 may store one or more operatingsystems, applications, associated operating system data, applicationdata, vehicle system and subsystem user interface data, and the likethat are executed by the ECU 110, the head unit 112, and the pluralityof vehicle systems 122. The storage unit 116 may include one or morebarrier profiles that are respectively associated to one or morebarriers based on user inputs. As discussed in more detail below, thebarrier profile(s) may be created, populated and/or updated by thebarrier control application 106.

In one embodiment, a respective barrier profile may include details thatare associated with the barrier 104 as identified by the user and/ordetermined based on vehicle sensors 124. The details may include abarrier type assigned to the barrier 104 (e.g., entrance gate, exitgate, garage door), a name assigned to the barrier 104 by the user(e.g., primary garage door, main gate), a geo-location associated withthe barrier 104 (e.g., GPS, DGPS coordinates of the location of thebarrier 104), and a plurality of global positioning coordinatesassociated with respective boundaries of one or more zones associatedwith the barrier 104 that are utilized by the application 106. Thebarrier profiles may additionally include geo-locations associated withone or more sensing locations that are determined based on thecapability of the image sensors 134 to capture images of a full expanseof the movement path of barrier 104 and/or the capability of theRADAR/LADAR sensors to sense obstacles that may be located within thefull expanse of the movement path of the barrier 104. In someembodiments, the one or more sensing locations may be evaluated andupdated within the barrier profiles each time the vehicle 102 arrivestowards the barrier 104 or departs away from the barrier 104. Asdiscussed in more detail below, the barrier profile(s) may be created,populated, updated, and/or evaluated to retrieve data based on theexecution of the barrier control application 106.

In one embodiment, the TCU 120 of the vehicle 102 may be utilized as anexternal interface for mobile communication between the vehicle 102 andan internet cloud communication network (internet cloud) 126 to send andretrieve data stored on one or more external devices. In one embodiment,the one or more external devices may include an external serverinfrastructure 144 that is accessible to provide data to the TCU 120.

In an exemplary embodiment, the TCU 120 may be configured to connect toa GSM, GPRS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, or LTE wireless connection to send andreceive one or more data files through the internet cloud 126 to/fromthe external server infrastructure 144. The TCU 120 may also include amicrocontroller (not shown) that controls the processes of the TCU 120and a storage (not shown) that may include various types of memory totemporarily store data that are provided to/from the components of thevehicle 102.

In one embodiment, the external server infrastructure 144 may include aplurality of interconnected servers that support and maintain data thatcan be sent to the TCU 120 and may be further utilized by one or morecomponents of the vehicle 102. The external server infrastructure 144may include but is not limited to web servers, data servers, databaseservers, domain controllers, backup servers, and the like. In anexemplary embodiment, the external server infrastructure 144 may includea barrier controller data repository (not shown) that includes thecurrent status of the barrier 104 that may be used by the application106. In one embodiment, upon controlling the movement of the barrier 104and changing the status of the barrier 104 (e.g., from the opened stateto the closed state), the barrier controller 108 may access the internetcloud 126 (e.g., through a Wi-Fi connection) to update and store the(updated) current status of the barrier 104.

In one or more embodiments, the barrier control application 106 mayutilize the TCU 120 to communicate with the internet cloud 126 to accessthe external server infrastructure 144 to communicate the barriermovement inhibition alert to the external server infrastructure 144. Inone embodiment, one or more portable devices (not shown) may be utilizedto present the barrier status user interface to present the user withthe barrier movement inhibition alert to alert the user that the barrier104 is inhibited from being automatically opened and/or closed based onthe detection of the at least one individual and/or at least one object.

In some embodiments, the barrier 104 may include barrier image sensors146 that may be disposed near the barrier 104 to capture images of themoving path of the barrier 104. The barrier image sensors may includeone or more cameras, that may include, but are not limited to, infraredcameras, digital cameras, stereo cameras, video cameras that aredirected towards the movement path of the barrier 104 to capture one ormore images of the moving path of the barrier 104. In someconfigurations, the barrier image data provided by the barrier imagesensors 146 may be uploaded directly to the external serverinfrastructure 144 to be accessed by the barrier control application 106via the TCU 120 of the vehicle 102.

With continued reference to the vehicle 102, in addition to theinfotainment system 118, the plurality of vehicle systems 122 mayinclude, but may not be limited to, a vehicle communication system 128,the barrier control system 130, and a navigation system 132. In oneembodiment, the vehicle communication system 128 may include one or moretransceivers that are capable of providing wireless computercommunications utilizing various protocols to be utilized tosend/receive electronic signals internally to components and systemswithin the vehicle 102 and to external devices including a transceiver140 operably connected to a barrier controller 108 associated with thebarrier 104.

The vehicle communication system 128 may be capable of providing wiredor wireless computer communications utilizing various protocols tosend/receive non-transitory signals internally to the plurality ofcomponents of the vehicle 102 and/or externally to external devices.Generally, these protocols include a wireless system (e.g., IEEE 802.11(WiFi), IEEE 802.15.1 (Bluetooth)), a near field communication system(NFC) (e.g., ISO 13157), a local area network (LAN), and/or apoint-to-point system. More particularly, the vehicle communicationsystem 128 may be utilized by the barrier control application 106 tosend (i.e., transmit) one or more radio frequency (RF) signals in one ormore frequencies and/or radio bands to communicate commands and data tothe barrier controller 108 through the transceiver 140. In oneembodiment, the vehicle communication system 128 may communicate the oneor more command signals that include but are not limited to, at leastone barrier status request signal and possibly at least one barriercontrol signal to the transceiver 140 when the movement path of thebarrier 104 is determined to be clear (i.e., individual(s) and/orobject(s) are not determined to be within the movement path) based onthe execution of the application 106.

In particular, the barrier control application 106 may utilize thevehicle communication system 128 to send the one or more status requestsignals to be evaluated by the barrier controller 108. Upon evaluatingthe barrier status request signal(s), barrier controller 108 maydetermine the current state of the barrier 104 as the opened state, thepartially opened state, or the closed state and may communicate thecurrent state in the form of one or more barrier response signals. Thevehicle communication system 128 may be utilized to receive the one ormore barrier response data signals sent from the transceiver 140including, but not limited to, at least one barrier status signal thatare initiated by the barrier controller 108 to be interpreted by thebarrier control application 106.

As discussed below, the barrier control application 106 may furtherutilize data provided by the image sensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADARsensors 136 to detect if at least one individual and/or the at least oneobject is located within the movement path of the barrier 104. If theapplication 106 determines that the movement path of the barrier 104 isclear, the vehicle communication system 128 may send the one or morebarrier control signals to remotely control movement of the barrier 104(e.g., actuate movement of the barrier 104 to open or close) based onthe determination of the current state of the barrier 104 (as determinedbased on the evaluation of the one or more barrier response signalsprovided by the barrier controller 108).

In one embodiment, the barrier control system 130 of the vehicle 102 maybe utilized to provide manual or automatic commands to the vehiclecommunication system 128 through the infotainment system 118. Inparticular, the barrier control system 130 may utilize the vehiclecommunication system 128 to send the one or more barrier control signalsto actuate movement of the barrier 104 to open or close the barrier 104based on one or more user inputs. In one configuration, the barriercontrol system 130 may be included as part of a HOMELINK® trainablegarage door opening device (or other embedded, integrated accessory ofthe vehicle 102) that is integrated within a ceiling panel (not shown)or rearview mirror (not shown) of the vehicle 102. In someconfigurations, the barrier control system 130 may include one or moreinput buttons (not shown) that may be inputted by the user to actuatemovement of the barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the navigation system 132 may be connectedto the head unit 112, the infotainment system 118, and the display unit114 to provide a map user interface (not shown) to the driver of thevehicle 102. The navigation system 132 may include a global positionsystem 132 a (GPS) that may also be used to localize (i.e., determinethe GPS or DGPS coordinates) the vehicle 102. The navigation system 132may include its own processor and memory that communicate with the GPS132 a to determine and provide route guidance to the driver of thevehicle 102.

In one or more embodiments, the navigation system 132 may include and/ormay connect to and access a map database 132 b to present one or moredetails and graphics on the map user interface through the display unit114. The map database 132 b may include geographical maps of one or morelocations (e.g., countries, regions, cities) in which the vehicle 102may be driven. The map database 132 b may also include locational datathat pertains to the barrier 104. In one embodiment, the barrier controlapplication 106 may utilize the navigation system 132 to localize thebarrier 104 and to determine a plurality of global positioningcoordinates associated with one or more areas that are located withinthe surrounding area of the barrier 104. The plurality of globalpositioning coordinates associated with the one or more areas mayconstitute boundaries of the one or more zones associated with thebarrier 104.

With particular reference to the barrier 104, the barrier 104 may beconnected to and controlled by the barrier controller 108. The barriercontroller 108 may include internal processing memory, an interfacecircuit, and bus lines for transferring data, sending commands, andcommunicating with the components associated with and/or connected tothe barrier 104. In one embodiment, the barrier controller 108 may beconnected to a remote control (e.g., garage door remote) (not shown) andan interface device (e.g., wall inputs, numeric key pad) (not shown)that may be used by the user to provide one or more inputs to controlmovement of the barrier 104.

As discussed above, the barrier controller 108 may be operably connectedto the transceiver 140. The barrier controller 108 may be configured tocontrol operation of the transceiver 140 to receive the one or morecommand signals from the vehicle communication system 128. Additionally,the barrier controller 108 may be configured to control operation of thetransceiver 140 to send (e.g., transmit) one or more response signals tothe vehicle communication system 128. In particular, the barriercontroller 108 may evaluate the one or more data signals received by thetransceiver 140 and may instruct the transceiver 140 to send the one ormore response data signals.

In an exemplary embodiment, the barrier controller 108 may also beoperably connected to a Wi-Fi antenna 142. The Wi-Fi antenna 142 may beutilized as an external interface for mobile communication between thebarrier controller 108 and the internet cloud 126 to send and retrievedata stored on the external server infrastructure 144 to store datawithin the barrier controller data repository. In an exemplaryembodiment, the Wi-Fi antenna 142 may be configured to connect to Wi-Fi,WiMax, GSM, GPRS, or LTE wireless connection to send and receive one ormore data files through the internet cloud 126 to/from the externalserver infrastructure 144. In one embodiment, the barrier controller 108may send a command to the Wi-Fi antenna 142 to communicate with theinternet cloud 126 to access the external server infrastructure 144 tostore the current status of the barrier 104 as determined by the barriercontroller 108.

In some embodiments, the barrier controller 108 may be operablyconnected to the barrier image sensors 146. As discussed above, thebarrier image sensors 146 may be disposed near to the barrier 104 tocapture one or more images of the moving path of the barrier 104. In oneor more embodiments, the barrier image sensors 146 may provide barrierimage data to the barrier controller 108. The barrier controller 108 mayutilize the WI-FI antenna to communicate the barrier image data to bestored on the external server infrastructure 144. As discussed below, insome embodiments, the barrier control application 106 may utilize theTCU 120 to communicate with the external server infrastructure 144 overthe internet cloud 126 to access the barrier image data by theapplication 106. The barrier image data may analyzed along with thesensor data provided by the vehicle sensors 124 to detect if at leastone individual and/or at least one object located within the moving pathof the barrier 104.

The Barrier Movement Control Application and Related Methods

The components of the barrier control application 106 will now bedescribed according to an exemplary embodiment and with reference toFIG. 1. In an exemplary embodiment, the barrier control application 106may be stored on the storage unit 116 of the vehicle 102. In alternateembodiments, the barrier control application 106 may be stored on theexternal server infrastructure 144 and may be accessed by the TCU 120 tobe executed by the ECU 110 and/or the head unit 112 of the vehicle 102.As stated above, the barrier control application 106 may be executedwhen a battery/accessory state of the vehicle 102 is enabled. Therefore,the vehicle 102 (e.g., engine) does not have to be fully enabled for theECU 110 or the head unit 112 to execute the barrier control application106.

In an exemplary embodiment, the barrier control application 106 mayinclude a location determinant module 148, a zone determinant module150, a barrier status determinant module 152, a barrier control module154, and a barrier status presentation module 156. It is to beappreciated that the barrier control application 106 may includeadditional modules and/or sub-modules that are configured to execute oneor more functions of the application 106. As will be described in moredetail below, the location determinant module 148 may be utilized todetermine the location of the vehicle 102 with respect to the (locationof) the barrier 104. The zone determinant module 150 may determine aplurality of zones that are utilized to send one or more signals betweenthe vehicle communication system 128 and the transceiver 140.

The barrier status determinant module 152 may be utilized to accesssensor data from the vehicle sensors 124 and barrier image data from theexternal server infrastructure 144 and analyze the data to detect if atleast one individual or at least one object is located within themovement path of the barrier 104 to inhibit automatic movement of thebarrier 104. The barrier status determinant module 152 may additionallydetermine the status of the barrier 104 as the opened state, thepartially opened state, or the closed state and may communicate thecurrent status of the barrier 104 to the barrier status presentationmodule 156.

The barrier control module 154 may be utilized to remotely control themovement of the barrier 104 to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate, the closed state, or the partially opened state based on thecurrent status of the barrier 104 when the movement path of the barrier104 is detected to be clear (i.e., no individuals or objects aredetected within the movement path of the barrier 104). Further, thebarrier status presentation module 156 may receive data from the barrierstatus determinant module 152 and/or the barrier control module 154 andmay communicate with the infotainment system 118 and may present thebarrier movement inhibition alert when the at least one individualand/or the at least one object is detected within the movement path ofthe barrier 104.

As discussed, the user may create the barrier profile associated withthe barrier 104. In one embodiment, upon creation of the barrierprofile, the location determinant module 148 may communicate with thenavigation system 132 of the vehicle 102 to determine the geo-locationassociated with the barrier 104. As discussed below, the geo-locationassociated with the barrier 104 may be used to determine if the vehicle102 is being driven and is arriving towards the barrier 104 (i.e., thegeo-location associated with the barrier 104). The geo-locationassociated with the barrier 104 may also be used to determine if thevehicle 102 is being driven and is departing away from the barrier 104(i.e., the geo-location associated with the barrier 104). In someembodiments, the geo-location associated with the barrier 104 mayadditionally be used to determine if the vehicle 102 is located (e.g.,parked) within a predetermined distance of the barrier 104 that mayinclude the area enclosed by the barrier 104.

In one embodiment, the user may input a user interface icon (not shown)via the vehicle HMI presented on the display unit 114 to create thebarrier profile associated with the barrier 104. For example, the driverof the vehicle 102 may wish to create the barrier profile that isassociated to the barrier 104 (e.g., garage door) located at thedriver's home to enable the application 106 to communicate with thebarrier controller 108 (e.g., garage door opener) associated with thebarrier 104. Once the user selects the respective user interface iconand inputs the name assigned to the barrier 104 per the user's choosing,the barrier control application 106 may store the barrier profile on thestorage unit 116 of the vehicle 102. Upon storing the barrier profile onthe storage unit 116, a respective indication may be communicated to thelocation determinant module 148 indicating that the user has setup thebarrier profile associated with the barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, upon receiving the indication that the userhas setup the barrier profile associated with the barrier 104, thelocation determinant module 148 may present a barrier locationdetermination user interface (not shown) to the user. The barrierlocation determination user interface may be utilized by the user toactuate the determination of the geo-location of the barrier 104 whenthe vehicle 102 is located within the area enclosed by the barrier 104.More specifically, the barrier location determination user interface mayinclude a user interface object(s) that may be inputted by the user toindicate that the vehicle 102 is within the area enclosed by the barrier104 to enable the zone determinant module 150 to determine thegeo-location of the barrier 104.

In one embodiment, the location determinant module 148 may communicatewith the navigation system 132 of the vehicle 102 to determine thegeo-location of the barrier 104. The navigation system 132 may accessthe GPS 132 a to determine locational coordinates associated with thelocation of the vehicle 102. In one embodiment, the navigation system132 may further access the map database 130 a to determine if ahighlighted location that may include a dwelling/building that includesthe barrier 104 is located within a predetermined proximity of thevehicle 102 (i.e., of the locational coordinates associated with thelocation of the vehicle 102 as determined by the GPS 132 a).

The highlighted location may be indicative of a home location saved bythe user via the map user interface, a point of interest presented onthe map interface, and/or a physical address that is included within themap database 130 a. In one embodiment, when the map database 130 acommunicates that the highlighted location is located within thepredetermined proximity of the vehicle 102, the location determinantmodule 148 may ask the user (via the barrier location determination userinterface) if the user wishes to interpret the highlighted location asthe geo-location associated with the barrier 104. If the user does wishto interpret the highlighted location as the geo-location associatedwith the barrier 104, the location determinant module 148 may access thebarrier profile and populate the locational coordinates associated withthe highlighted location as the geo-location associated with the barrier104.

In an additional embodiment, the user may utilize the map user interfaceof the navigation system 132 to input a saved location that may beutilized by the application 106 as the location of the barrier 104. Forexample, the user may input a home location as a saved location on themap user interface. The user may additionally utilize the barrierconfiguration user interface to input the saved location as the locationof the barrier 104. The location determinant module 148 may communicatewith the navigation system 132 to determine the geo-location of thebarrier 104 based on the saved location. The location determinant module148 may further access the barrier profile stored on the storage unit116 and may populate the locational coordinates associated with thesaved location as the geo-location associated with the barrier 104.

As discussed below, the stored geo-location may be used by theapplication 106 to determine if the vehicle 102 is located within apredetermined vicinity of the barrier 104, if the vehicle 102 is locatedwithin the area enclosed by the barrier 104, if the vehicle 102 isarriving towards the barrier 104, or if the vehicle 102 is departingaway from the barrier 104. Additionally, the stored geo-location may beused by the application 106 to determine the one or more zonesassociated with the barrier 104 utilized by the application 106 to sendone or more signals to the barrier controller 108 based on the locationand/or a traveling direction of the vehicle 102 with respect to thebarrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the location determinant module 148 may alsobe utilized to determine the location and/or the traveling direction ofthe vehicle 102 with respect to the barrier 104. In particular, thelocation determinant module 148 may determine if the vehicle 102 islocated within the area enclosed by the barrier 104 (e.g., a garage),the vehicle 102 is located within the predetermined vicinity of thebarrier 104 (e.g., 10 m from the barrier), the vehicle 102 is arrivingtoward the barrier 104 (e.g., vehicle 102 is being driven to the homewhere the barrier 104 is located), or the vehicle 102 is departing fromthe barrier 104 (e.g., vehicle 102 is being driven away from the homewhere the barrier 104 is located).

In one embodiment, the location determinant module 148 may communicatewith the navigation system 132 of the vehicle 102 to determine thelocational coordinates associated with the (location of the) vehicle102. In particular, as the vehicle 102 is being driven or is parked, thelocation determinant module 148 may communicate with the navigationsystem 132 to continually determine the locational coordinatesassociated with the vehicle 102 as provided by the GPS 132 a. Thelocation determinant module 148 may also access the barrier profilestored on the storage unit 116 to retrieve the geo-location associatedwith the barrier 104. Upon retrieving the geo-location associated withthe barrier 104, the location determinant module 148 may communicatewith the navigation system 132 to determine if the vehicle 102 is withina predetermined distance (e.g., within a 0-200 yards) of thegeo-location associated with the barrier 104.

If the navigation system 132 determines that the vehicle 102 is withinthe predetermined vicinity of the geo-location associated with thebarrier 104, the location determinant module 148 may communicate withthe navigation system 132 to further determine if the locationalcoordinates associated with the vehicle 102 match (e.g., within apredetermined GPS geo-fence threshold that may encompass portions of thearea enclosed by the barrier 104) the geo-location associated with thebarrier 104.

In one embodiment, when the navigation system 132 determines that thelocational coordinates associated with the vehicle 102 match thegeo-location associated with the barrier 104, the navigation system 132may communicate respective data to the location determinant module 148.The location determinant module 148 may determine that the vehicle 102is located within the area enclosed by the barrier 104 and maycommunicate the location of the vehicle 102 to the other modules 148-156of the application 106. Similarly, when the navigation system 132determines that the locational coordinates associated with the vehicle102 are not including the area enclosed by the barrier 104 but arewithin the predetermined vicinity of the geo-location associated withthe barrier 104, the navigation system 132 may communicate respectivedata to the location determinant module 148. The location determinantmodule 148 may determine that the vehicle 102 is located within thepredetermined vicinity of the barrier 104 and may communicate thelocation of the vehicle 102 to the other modules 148-156 of theapplication 106.

In one or more embodiments, the location determinant module 148 maydetermine when the vehicle 102 is arriving towards the barrier 104 ordeparting from the barrier 104 based on the stored geo-location of thebarrier 104. In particular, when the location determinant module 148determines that the vehicle 102 is not located within the area enclosedby the barrier 104 or within the predetermined vicinity of the barrier104, but that the vehicle 102 is located within the predetermineddistance of the geo-location associated with the barrier 104, thelocation determinant module 148 may communicate with the vehicledynamics sensors 138 to determine if the vehicle 102 is enabled (e.g.,engine is enabled) and is moving (e.g., vehicle 102 is being driven). Ifit is determined that the vehicle 102 is enabled and is moving, thelocation determinant module 148 may communicate with the navigationsystem 132 to utilize the GPS 132 a and the map database 132 b toevaluate if the vehicle 102 is being driven away from geo-locationassociated with the barrier 104. If the navigation system 132 determinesthat a distance between the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102,as provided by the GPS 132 a and the geo-location of the barrier 104 areincreasing, the navigation system 132 may communicate respective data tothe location determinant module 148. The location determinant module 148may determine that the vehicle 102 is departing away from the barrier104 and may communicate the location and traveling direction of thevehicle 102 to the other modules 148-154 of the application 106.

If the location determinant module 148 determines that the vehicle 102is not located within the first predetermined distance of thegeo-location associated with the barrier 104, the location determinantmodule 148 may communicate with the vehicle dynamics sensors 138 todetermine if the vehicle 102 is enabled (e.g., engine is enabled) and ismoving (e.g., vehicle 102 is being driven). If it is determined that thevehicle 102 is enabled and is moving, the location determinant module148 may communicate with the navigation system 132 to determine if thevehicle 102 is located within an additional predetermined distance(e.g., 1 mile) of the geo-location associated with the barrier 104 andif the vehicle 102 is arriving towards the barrier 104. In particular,if the navigation system 132 determines that the vehicle 102 is locatedwithin the additional predetermined distance of the barrier 104, thenavigation system 132 may utilize the GPS 132 a and the map database 132b to evaluate if the vehicle 102 is being driven towards thegeo-location associated with the barrier 104. If the navigation system132 determines that a distance between the locational coordinates of thevehicle 102, as provided by the GPS 132 a and the geo-location of thebarrier 104 is decreasing, the navigation system 132 may communicaterespective data to the location determinant module 148. The locationdeterminant module 148 may determine that the vehicle 102 is arrivingtowards the barrier 104 and may communicate the location and travelingdirection of the vehicle 102 to the other modules 148-156 of theapplication 106.

In one embodiment, during daily operation of the vehicle 102, when thevehicle 102 is determined to be arriving towards the barrier 104 ordeparting away from the barrier 104, the image sensors 134, and theRADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may make one or more sensor based determinationsthat pertain to the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier 104at one or more geo-locations. In particular, one or more geo-locationsmay be utilized as sensing locations that are applied during the arrivalof the vehicle 102 towards the barrier 104 to sense and determine if atleast one object and/or at least one individual is located within themovement path of the barrier 104. Additionally, one or moregeo-locations may be utilized as sensing locations that are appliedduring the departure of the vehicle 102 from the barrier 104 to senseand determine if at least one individual and/or object is located withinthe movement path of the barrier 104. More specifically, the sensinglocations may be determined based on the capability of the image sensors134 to capture images of the full expanse of the movement path ofbarrier 104 and/or the capability of the RADAR/LADAR sensors to senseobstacles that may be located within the full expanse of the movementpath of the barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, respective (e.g., separate) sensinglocations may be applied by the location determinant module 148 that areapplicable when the vehicle 102 is arriving towards the barrier 104 andwhen the vehicle 102 is departing away from the barrier 104. The sensinglocations may be determined by the location determinant module 148 basedon foremost locations at which the image sensors 134 and/or theRADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may initially sense a full expanse of themovement path of the barrier 104 as the vehicle 102 arrives towards thebarrier 104 or departs away from the barrier 104. For example, thesensing locations may be respectively provided at geo-locations that arelocated a certain distance from the barrier 104 at which the imagesensors 134 are capable of capturing and providing stereoscopic imagesof the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier 104 when thevehicle 102 is arriving towards the barrier 104 or departing away fromthe barrier 104.

In some embodiments, the geo-locations at which the image sensors 134are initially capable of capturing images of the full expanse of themoving path of the barrier 104 may be aggregated with the geo-locationsat which the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may be able to sense obstacleswithin the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier 104. Theaggregation of geo-locations may be made to determine sensing locationsthat are based collectively on image data and sensor wave data that arerespectively applicable during the arrival of the vehicle 102 towardsthe barrier 104 and during the departure of the vehicle 102 away fromthe barrier 104.

In one or more embodiments, the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADARsensors 136 may additionally determine attributes related to the barrier104 and the surrounding environment of the barrier 104, hereinafterreferred to as barrier attributes. The barrier attributes may include,but may not be limited to, a moving direction of the barrier 104 thatmay include an upward/downward movement, inward/outward movement, as thebarrier 104 is traversed to the opened state or the closed state, anddata pertaining to the driveways/roads leading up to the barrier 104(e.g., slope of the driveway leading up to and at the movement path ofthe barrier 104).

Upon determining the sensing locations applicable during the arrival ofthe vehicle 102 towards the barrier 104 and during the departure of thevehicle 102 away from the barrier 104, the location determinant module148 may continually populate the data pertaining to the sensinglocations within the barrier profile associated with the barrier 104 andstored on the storage unit 116. Additionally, the location determinantmodule 148 may populate the barrier attributes within the barrierprofile associated with the barrier 104 to be utilized by the barriercontrol application 106. In some embodiments, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may access the barrier attributes from thebarrier profile to more accurately evaluate sensor data provided by thevehicle sensors 124 to detect the presence of at least one individualand/or at least one object that is located within the movement path ofthe barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the zone determinant module 150 of thebarrier control application 106 may provide a plurality of zonesassociated with the barrier 104. The plurality of zones may includeplurality of areas located at a plurality of distances from the barrier104 and may be provided at specific locations based on the sensinglocations utilized during the arrival or departure of the vehicle 102.The plurality of zones may be used to trigger the sending (e.g.,transmission) of RF signals by the vehicle communication system 128 tothe transceiver 140 operably connected to the barrier controller 108. Asdiscussed in more detail below, one or more specific zones of theplurality of zones may be associated with the barrier 104 and utilizedto send one or more specific signals from the barrier status determinantmodule 152 or the barrier control module 154 (via the vehiclecommunication system 128) to the barrier controller 108 (via thetransceiver 140) when the vehicle 102 is determined to be arrivingtowards the barrier 104 and entering the zone(s).

Additionally, one or more specific zones of the plurality of zones maybe associated with the barrier 104 and utilized to send one or morespecific signals from the barrier status determinant module 152 or thebarrier control module 154 to the barrier controller 108 when thevehicle 102 is determined to be departing away from the barrier 104 andexiting the zone(s). In particular, the plurality of zones may bespecifically associated with the location and/or traveling direction ofthe vehicle 102 as communicated by the location determinant module 148when it is determined that the vehicle 102 is arriving towards thebarrier 104 or departing away from the barrier 104, as discussed above.

In one or more embodiments, when the vehicle 102 is determined to enteror exit one or more of the respective zones, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may utilize the vehicle communication system 128to send (e.g., transmit) at least one status request signal to thebarrier controller 108 to determine the state of the barrier 104. Thebarrier status determinant module 152 may also analyze sensor dataprovided by the vehicle sensor 124 upon determining that the vehicle 102is within a sensing distance of the barrier 104 to determine if theindividual(s) and/or object(s) is located within the movement path ofthe barrier 104. If the barrier status determinant module 152 does notdetermine that the individual(s) and/or object(s) are located within themovement path of the barrier 104, when the vehicle 102 is determined toenter or exit one or more of the respective zones, the barrier controlmodule 154 may automatically send at least one barrier control signal tothe barrier controller 108 to actuate the automatic movement of thebarrier 104 to traverse the barrier 104 to the opened state or theclosed state based on the traveling direction of the vehicle 102.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative example of the plurality of zones associatedwith the barrier 104 that may be applied when the vehicle 102 isdetermined to be arriving towards the barrier 104 according to anexemplary embodiment. As shown in the illustrative example of FIG. 2, aboundary 202 a of an arrival status zone 202 b may be determined by thezone determinant module 150 and may be provided as an RF communicationtrigger point for the barrier status determinant module 152 to utilizethe vehicle communication system 128 to send (e.g., transmit) one ormore status request signals (e.g., RF signals) to the transceiver 140 tobe evaluated by the barrier controller 108. Additionally a boundary 206a of a barrier opening zone 206 b may be determined by the zonedeterminant module 150 and may be provided as an automatic trigger pointfor the barrier control system 130 to send the barrier control signal(s)to the barrier 104 to automatically move the barrier 104.

In one embodiment, during the sensor training mode, the zone determinantmodule 150 may communicate with the image sensors 134 and theRADAR/LADAR sensors 136 to determine specific sensing locations 204within the predetermined vicinity of the barrier 104 as the vehicle 102is arriving towards the barrier 104. In other words, the sensinglocations 204 may be determined based on foremost locations during thearrival of the vehicle 102 towards the barrier 104 at which the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may sense the fullexpanse movement path of the barrier 104. For example, the sensinglocations 204 may be provided at a furthest distance from the barrier104 at which the image sensors 134 are capable of capturing andproviding stereoscopic images of the movement path of the barrier 104.Also, the sensing locations 204 may be provided at a furthest distancefrom the barrier 104 at which the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are able tosend and receive radar waves/light pulses and sense obstacles within thefull expanse of the movement path that may be used to determine ifindividual(s) and/or object(s) may be located within the movement pathof the barrier 104.

In one embodiment, the zone determinant module 150 may determine thelocation at which to provide the boundary 202 a of the arrival statuszone 202 b as a location that ensures that the sensing locations 204 arelocated within the arrival status zone 202 b to accordingly determine ifat least one individual and/or at least one object is located within themoving path of the barrier 104 at an earliest possible point in timewith respect to the vehicle 102 approaching the barrier 104. Moreparticularly, the location of the boundary 202 a of the arrival statuszone 202 b may be provided for the barrier status determinant module 152to have an adequate amount of time to inhibit sending of the barriercontrol signal before the vehicle 102 enters the barrier opening zone206 b.

In some embodiments, in addition to taking the sensing locations 204into account when determining the location of the boundary 202 a of thearrival status zone 202 b, the zone determinant module 150 may take intoaccount the location at which the vehicle 102 may transmit and receiveRF signals to successfully communicate with the barrier controller 108at an earliest point in time to determine the current state of thebarrier 104. This functionality may ensure that the barrier controlsignal(s) is sent to traverse the barrier 104 to the opened state as thevehicle 102 approaches the barrier 104 upon determining that the movingpath of the barrier 104 is clear without requiring the vehicle 102 tostop and wait for the barrier 104 to fully traverse to the opened state.

In an exemplary embodiment, upon determining the location of the arrivalstatus zone 202 b, the zone determinant module 150 may store a pluralityof GPS coordinates associated with the boundary 202 a of the arrivalstatus zone 202 b. In one or more embodiments, the zone determinantmodule 150 may communicate with the navigation system 132 to determinethe plurality of GPS coordinates (e.g., latitude x, longitude y) of theareas that include the boundary 202 a of the arrival status zone 202 b.Upon determining the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with theportions of the boundary 202 a, the navigation system 132 maycommunicate the plurality of GPS coordinates to the zone determinantmodule 150.

Upon determining the location of the arrival status zone 202 b, the zonedeterminant module 150 may access the barrier profile associated withthe barrier 104 stored on the storage unit 116 and may populate theplurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions of the boundary202 a of the arrival status zone 202 b. As discussed below, theplurality of GPS coordinates populated within the barrier profile may beevaluated in order to send the status request signal(s) to the barriercontroller 108 upon the vehicle 102 entering the arrival status zone 202b during the arrival of the vehicle 102 towards the barrier 104.

Upon sending the status request signal(s), as the vehicle 102 continuesto travel towards the barrier 104, the location determinant module 148may access the barrier profile associated with the barrier 104 toretrieve the sensing locations 204 at which the image sensors 134 and/orthe RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are capable of capturing/sensing themovement path of the barrier 104. As the vehicle 102 continues to traveland arrive towards the barrier 104, the location determinant module 148may communicate with the barrier status determinant module 152 when thevehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations 204. The barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may responsively communicate with the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADA/LADAR sensors 136 to receive image dataand/or sensor wave data and may analyze the data to determine if theindividual(s) and/or the object(s) is located within the movement pathof the barrier 104. Consequently, the barrier status determinant module152 may inhibit the automatic sending of the barrier control signal(s)that occurs when the vehicle 102 enters the barrier opening zone 206 bor may allow the sending of the barrier control signal(s) when thevehicle 102 enters the barrier opening zone 206 b based on if theindividual(s) and/or object(s) are determined to be located within themovement path of the barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the zone determinant module 150 maydetermine the barrier opening zone 206 b at a determined distance fromthe barrier 104. As shown in the illustrative example of FIG. 2, in oneembodiment, the size of the barrier opening zone 206 b may be based onone or more variables that ensures that the boundary 206 a of thebarrier opening zone 206 b may be provided at a determined adequatedistance from the sensing locations 204 and the barrier 104 for theapplication 106 to inhibit or allow the sending of the barrier controlsignal(s) to traverse the barrier 104 to the opened state as the vehicle102 approaches the barrier 104. The zone determinant module 150 maydetermine the boundary 206 a of the barrier opening zone 206 b at adetermined adequate distance (e.g., 50 m) from the boundary 202 a of thearrival status zone 202 b and the determined adequate distance (e.g., 30m) from the sensing locations 204. In particular, upon sending thestatus request signal(s) to determine the status of the barrier 104, thevehicle 102 will travel the determined adequate distances and thevehicle sensors 124 will sense the movement path of the barrier 104 tobe analyzed as the vehicle 102 continues to travel toward the barrier104 before possibly sending the barrier control signal(s) when thevehicle 102 enters the barrier opening zone 206 b.

In some embodiments, in addition to taking the location of the arrivalstatus zone 202 b and the sensing locations 204 into account, the zonedeterminant module 150 may analyze data pertaining to the surroundingenvironment of the vehicle 102 provided by the map database 132 b andmay also determine the barrier opening zone 206 b according to one ormore environmental variables. The one or more environmental variablesmay include, but are not limited to, the length of the street(s) 208within the vicinity of the barrier 104, the length of the driveway(s)210 leading up to the barrier 104, the location of the surroundingstructures/object(s) within the vicinity of the barrier 104, and thelike.

In particular, the zone determinant module 150 may determine the size ofthe barrier opening zone 206 b to ensure that the barrier controlsignal(s) may be transmitted to the transceiver 140 at a time that thevehicle 102 is at a requisite distance from the barrier 104. Thisfunctionality may ensure that upon determining that the movement path ofthe barrier 104 is clear, the barrier control signal(s) are sent at anappropriate time to fully open the barrier 104 upon the arrival of thevehicle 102 towards the barrier 104 without compromising the security ofcontents located behind the barrier 104. For example, in a scenariowhere the barrier 104 is located further from a street 208 that is usedto approach the barrier 104, the barrier opening zone 206 b may includea smaller area surrounding the barrier 104 than a scenario where thebarrier 104 is located closer to the street 208.

Upon determining the location of the barrier opening zone 206 b, thezone determinant module 150 may communicate with the navigation system132 to determine the plurality of GPS coordinates (e.g., latitude x,longitude y) of the areas that include the boundary 206 a of the barrieropening zone 206 b. Upon determining the plurality of GPS coordinatesassociated with the portions of the boundary 206 a, the navigationsystem 132 may communicate the plurality of GPS coordinates to the zonedeterminant module 150.

The zone determinant module 150 may access the barrier profileassociated with the barrier 104 stored on the storage unit 116 and maypopulate the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions ofthe boundary 206 a of the barrier opening zone 206 b. As discussedbelow, the plurality of GPS coordinates populated within the barrierprofile may be evaluated in order to send the barrier control signal(s)to the barrier controller 108 upon the vehicle 102 entering the barrieropening zone 206 b during the arrival of the vehicle 102 towards thebarrier 104.

It is to be appreciated that the zone determinant module 150 maydetermine multiple respective arrival status zones and barrier openingzones that may be utilized for multiple barriers. Additionally, multiplesensing locations may be applied by the location determinant module 148that may be utilized with respect to multiple barriers. For example, ifthe home of the user includes a gate as a first barrier and a garagedoor as a second barrier, the location determinant module 148 maydetermine sensing locations specifically pertaining to the gate andsensing locations specifically pertaining to the garage door as thevehicle 102 arrives towards the gate and the garage door. Additionally,the zone determinant module 150 may determine an arrival status zonepertaining to the gate and a separate arriving barrier status zonepertaining to the garage door. The zone determinant module 150 mayfurther determine a barrier opening zone pertaining to the gate and aseparate barrier opening zone pertaining to the garage door.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative example of the plurality of zones associatedwith the barrier 104 that may be applied when the vehicle 102 isdetermined to be departing away from the barrier 104 according to anexemplary embodiment. As shown in the illustrative example of FIG. 3, adeparture status zone 302 b may be determined by the zone determinantmodule 150 and may be provided as an RF communication trigger point forthe barrier status determinant module 152 to utilize the vehiclecommunication system 128 to send at least one status request signal tothe transceiver 140 to be evaluated by the barrier controller 108.Additionally, a boundary 306 a of a barrier closing zone 306 b may bedetermined by the zone determinant module 150 and may be provided as anautomatic trigger point for the barrier control system 130 to send thebarrier control signal(s) to the barrier 104 to automatically move thebarrier 104.

In particular, as the vehicle 102 is departing from the barrier 104(e.g., reversing away from the barrier 104), the vehicle 102 may exitthe departure status zone 302 b by crossing a boundary 302 a of thedeparture status zone 302 b. Upon crossing the boundary 302 a, thebarrier status determinant module 152 may utilize the vehiclecommunication system 128 to determine the current status of the barrier104. As discussed below in more detail, the current status of thebarrier 104 may be used to determine if the barrier control module 154may send the barrier control signal(s) to traverse the barrier 104 tothe closed state upon the vehicle 102 exiting a barrier closing zone 306b if it is determined that the movement path of the barrier 104 isclear.

In one or more embodiments, the zone determinant module 150 maydetermine the location and size of the departure status zone 302 baccording to sensing locations 304 that are determined within thepredetermined vicinity of the barrier 104. In one embodiment, upondetermining the current status of the barrier 104, as the vehicle 102continues to travel away from the barrier 104, the location determinantmodule 148 may access the barrier profile associated with the barrier104 to retrieve the sensing locations 304 at which the image sensors 134and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are capable of sensing the fullexpanse of the movement path of the barrier 104 as the vehicle 102 isdeparting away from the barrier 104. As the vehicle 102 continues totravel away from the barrier 104, the location determinant module 148may communicate with the barrier status determinant module 152 when thevehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations 304. The barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may responsively communicate with the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADA/LADAR sensors 136 to receive image dataand/or sensor wave data and may analyze the data to determine if atleast one individual and/or at least one object is located within themovement path of the barrier 104. Consequently, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may inhibit the automatic sending of the barriercontrol signal(s) that occurs when the vehicle 102 exits the barrierclosing zone 306 b or may allow the sending of the barrier controlsignal(s) when the vehicle 102 exits the barrier closing zone 306 bbased on if the individual(s) and/or object(s) are determined to belocated within the movement path of the barrier 104.

In one embodiment, the zone determinant module 150 may determine thelocation at which to provide the boundary 302 a of the departure statuszone 302 b as a location that ensures that the sensing locations 304 arelocated within the departure status zone 302 b to accordingly determineif the individual(s) and/or object(s) are located within the moving pathof the barrier 104 at an earliest possible point in time before thevehicle 102 enters the barrier closing zone 306 b. More particularly,the location of the boundary 302 a of the departure status zone 302 bmay be provided for the barrier status determinant module 152 to have anadequate amount of time to inhibit sending of the barrier control signalbefore the vehicle 102 exits the barrier closing zone 306 b.

In some embodiments, in addition to taking the sensing locations 304into account when determining the location of the boundary 302 a of thedeparture status zone 302 b, the zone determinant module 150 may alsotake into account the location at which the vehicle 102 may determinethe current status of the barrier 104 at a requisite time to determineif the movement path of the barrier 104 is clear to allow or inhibit thesending of the barrier control signal(s) as the vehicle 102 departs awayfrom the barrier 104. Upon determining the departure status zone 302 bat the first determined distance from the barrier 104, the zonedeterminant module 150 may communicate with the navigation system 132 todetermine the plurality of GPS coordinates (e.g., latitude x, longitudey) of the areas that include the boundary 402 a of the departure statuszone 302 b.

Upon determining the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with theportions of the boundary 302 a of the departure status zone 302 b, thenavigation system 132 may communicate the plurality of GPS coordinatesto the zone determinant module 150. The zone determinant module 150 mayaccess the barrier profile associated with the barrier 104 stored on thestorage unit 116 and may populate the plurality of GPS coordinatesassociated with portions of the boundary 302 a of the departure statuszone 302 b. As discussed below, the plurality of GPS coordinatespopulated within the barrier profile may be evaluated in order to sendthe status request signal(s) to the barrier controller 108 upon thevehicle 102 exiting the departure status zone 302 b during the departureof the vehicle 102 away from the barrier 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the zone determinant module 150 mayadditionally determine the barrier closing zone 306 b at a determineddistance from the barrier 104 and the sensing locations 304. Withcontinued reference to the illustrative example of FIG. 3, in oneembodiment, the size of the barrier closing zone 306 b may be based onone or more variables that ensures that the boundary 306 a of thebarrier closing zone 306 b may be provided at a determined adequatedistance from the sensing locations 204 and the barrier 104 for theapplication 106 to allow or inhibit the sending of the barrier controlsignal(s) to traverse the barrier 104 to the closed state before thevehicle 102 is out of a RF communication range with the barriercontroller 108. In particular, the zone determinant module 150 maydetermine that the boundary 306 a of the barrier closing zone 306 b isto be provided at a determined adequate distance (e.g., 50 m) from theboundary 302 a of the departure status zone 302 b and the determinedadequate distance (e.g., 30 m) from the sensing locations 304. As anillustrative example, upon sending the status request signal(s) todetermine the status of the barrier 104, the vehicle 102 will travel thedetermined adequate distances and the vehicle sensors 124 will sense themovement path of the barrier 104 to be analyzed as the vehicle 102continues to travel away from the barrier 104 before possibly sendingthe barrier control signal(s) when the vehicle 102 exits the barrierclosing zone 306 b or inhibiting the sending of the barrier controlsignal(s).

In some embodiments, in addition to taking the location of the departurestatus zone 302 b and the sensing locations 304 into account, the zonedeterminant module 150 may analyze data pertaining to the surroundingenvironment of the vehicle 102 provided by the map database 132 b andmay also determine the barrier closing zone 306 b according to one ormore environmental variables. For instance, the zone determinant module150 may analyze the length of the street(s) 308 within the vicinity ofthe barrier 104, the length of the driveway(s) 310 leading up to thebarrier 104, the location of the surrounding structures/object(s) withinthe vicinity of the barrier 104, and the like. In particular, the zonedeterminant module 150 may determine the size of the barrier closingzone 306 b to ensure that the barrier control signal(s) may betransmitted to the transceiver 140 at a time that the vehicle 102 is ata requisite distance from the barrier 104. This functionality may ensurethat upon determining that the movement path of the barrier 104 isclear, the barrier control signal(s) are sent at an appropriate time tofully close the barrier 104 during the departure of the vehicle 102 awayfrom the barrier 104 before the vehicle communication system 128 is outof RF communication range with the transceiver 140. For example, in ascenario where the barrier 104 is located at the end of a long driveway310 that is used to depart away from the barrier 104, the barrierclosing zone 306 b may include a smaller area surrounding the barrier104 than a scenario where the barrier 104 is located at an end of ashort driveway 310.

In an exemplary embodiment, upon determining the barrier closing zone306 b, the zone determinant module 150 may communicate with thenavigation system 132 to determine the plurality of GPS coordinates(e.g., latitude x, longitude y) of the areas that include the boundary306 a of the barrier closing zone 306 b. Upon determining the pluralityof GPS coordinates associated with the portions of the boundary 306 a,the navigation system 132 may communicate the plurality of GPScoordinates to the zone determinant module 150. The zone determinantmodule 150 may access the barrier profile associated with the barrier104 stored on the storage unit 116 and may populate the plurality of GPScoordinates associated with portions of the boundary 306 a of thebarrier closing zone 306 b. As discussed below, the plurality of GPScoordinates populated within the barrier profile may be evaluated inorder to send the barrier control signal(s) to the barrier controller108 upon the vehicle 102 exiting the barrier closing zone 306 b duringdeparture of the vehicle 102 away from the barrier 104.

It is to be appreciated that the zone determinant module 150 maydetermine multiple respective departure status zones and barrier closingzones that may be utilized for multiple barriers. Additionally, multiplesensing locations may be applied by the location determinant module 148that may be utilized with respect to multiple barriers. For example, ifthe home of the user includes a gate as a first barrier and a garagedoor as a second barrier, the location determinant module 148 maydetermine sensing locations specifically pertaining to the gate andsensing locations specifically pertaining to the garage door as thevehicle 102 departs from the garage door and the gate. Additionally, thezone determinant module 150 may determine a departure status zonepertaining to the gate and a separate departure status zone pertainingto the garage door. The zone determinant module 150 may furtherdetermine a barrier closing zone pertaining to the gate and a separatebarrier closing zone pertaining to the garage door.

FIG. 4A is a process flow diagram of a method 400 for inhibiting orproviding automatic movement of the barrier 104 when the vehicle 102 isdetermined to be arriving towards the barrier 104 according to anexemplary embodiment. FIG. 4A will be described with reference to thecomponents of FIG. 1 though it is to be appreciated that the method 400of FIG. 4A may be used with other systems and/or components.Additionally, the method 400 of FIG. 4A will be described with referenceto the illustrative example of FIG. 2. The method 400 may begin at block402, wherein the method 400 may include determining if the vehicle 102enters the arrival status zone 202 b. As discussed, when the locationdeterminant module 148 determines that the vehicle 102 is arrivingtowards the barrier 104, the location determinant module 148 maycommunicate the location of the vehicle 102 and the traveling directionof the vehicle 102 to the zone determinant module 150. As discussedabove, the zone determinant module 150 may determine the plurality ofzones associated with the barrier 104 that specifically pertain to thearrival of the vehicle 102 towards the barrier 104.

Upon determining the arrival status zone 202 b, the zone determinantmodule 150 may populate the barrier profile associated with the barrier104 with the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions theboundary 202 a of the arrival status zone 202 b. In one embodiment, asthe vehicle 102 is being driven, the location determinant module 148 maycommunicate with the navigation system 132 to continually determine thelocational coordinates associated with the vehicle 102 as provided bythe GPS 132 a.

The location determinant module 148 may also access the barrier profilestored on the storage unit 116 and may communicate with the navigationsystem 132 to determine if the vehicle 102 is entering any of theportions of the boundary 202 a of the arrival status zone 202 b. Morespecifically, the location determinant module 148 may continuallycompare the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102 against theplurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions of the boundary202 a to determine if they overlap with one another. If it is determinedthat the overlapping of the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102occurs with the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions ofthe boundary 202 a, the location determinant module 148 may determinethat the vehicle 102 enters the arrival status zone 202 b. For example,if the vehicle 102 is being driven towards the barrier 104, the vehicle102 may enter the arrival status zone 202 b. In such a scenario, thelocation determinant module 148 may determine when the vehicle 102enters the arrival status zone 202 b once the vehicle 102 crosses one ofthe portions of the boundary 202 a.

If it is determined that the vehicle 102 enters the arrival status zone202 b (at block 402), the method 400 may proceed to block 404, whereinthe method 400 may include sending at least one status request signal tothe barrier controller 108. In an exemplary embodiment, upon thelocation determinant module 148 determining that the vehicle 102 iscrossing one of the portions of the boundary 202 a to enter the arrivalstatus zone 202 b, the location determinant module 148 may communicaterespective data to the barrier status determinant module 152. Thebarrier status determinant module 152 may responsively utilize thevehicle communication system 128 to send (e.g., transmit) one or morestatus request signals to the transceiver 140 to be evaluated by thebarrier controller 108 to determine the current state of the barrier104. In other words, the barrier status determinant module 152 may sendthe status request data signal(s) to determine if the barrier 104 iscurrently in the opened state, the closed state, or the partially openedstate.

The method 400 may proceed to block 406, wherein the method 400 mayinclude receiving at least one current state data signal from thebarrier controller 108. In one or more embodiments, the barriercontroller 108 may evaluate the one or more status request signalsreceived by the transceiver 140 and may determine the current state ofthe barrier 104. The barrier controller 108 may determine the currentstate as the opened state when the barrier 104 is in a fully openedpositon. Additionally, the barrier controller 108 may determine thecurrent state as the closed state when the barrier 104 is in a fullyclosed positon. In some embodiments, the barrier controller 108 maydetermine the current state of the barrier 104 as the partially openedstate when the barrier 104 is partially opened. The barrier controller108 may further determine the barrier traversing level of the barrier104 (e.g., 65% open) when the current state of the barrier 104 is thepartially opened state.

In an exemplary embodiment, upon determining the current state of thebarrier 104, the barrier controller 108 may utilize the transceiver 140to communicate the one or more current state data signals that includethe current state of the barrier 104 as the opened state, the closedstate, or the partially opened state to the vehicle communication system128. In some embodiments, when the barrier 104 is determined to be inthe partially opened state, the current data state data signal(s) mayadditionally include the barrier traversing level of the barrier 104.Upon evaluating the current state of the barrier 104, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may communicate respective data to the barriercontrol module 154 to evaluate the current state of the barrier 104.

The method 400 may proceed to block 408, wherein the method 400 mayinclude determining if the barrier 104 is in the closed state or thepartially opened state. As discussed above, upon evaluating the currentstate of the barrier 104, the barrier status determinant module 152 maycommunicate respective data to the barrier control module 154 toevaluate the current state of the barrier 104. The barrier controlmodule 154 may evaluate the current state and determine if the barrier104 is in the closed state or the partially opened state as communicatedby the barrier controller 108 (at block 406).

If it is determined that the current state of the barrier 104 is theclosed state or the partially opened state (at block 408), the method400 may proceed to block 410, wherein the method 400 may includedetermining if the vehicle 102 reaches one or more sensing locations. Asdiscussed above, during daily operation of the vehicle 102, when thevehicle 102 is determined to be arriving towards the barrier 104, theimage sensors 134, and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may be able tomake one or more sensor based determinations that may include specificgeo-locations within the vicinity of the barrier 104 at which thesensing locations 204 are determined and applied. With respect to theapproach of the vehicle 102 towards the barrier 104, the sensinglocations 204 applied by the location determinant module 148 may bedetermined based on the foremost locations at which the image sensors134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may initially sense the fullexpanse of the movement path of the barrier 104. As discussed above, thegeo-locations at which the image sensors 134 are initially capable ofcapturing images of the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier104 may be utilized separately or may be aggregated with thegeo-locations at which the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are initially capableof sensing obstacles within the full expanse of the movement path of thebarrier 104.

In one embodiment, upon sending the status request signal(s), as thevehicle 102 continues to travel towards the barrier 104, the locationdeterminant module 148 may access the barrier profile associated withthe barrier 104 to retrieve the sensing locations 204 at which the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are capable ofcapturing/sensing the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier104. As the vehicle 102 continues to travel and arrive towards thebarrier 104, the location determinant module 148 may utilize informationrelated to the sensing locations 204 retrieved from the barrier profileto determine that the vehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations204.

In another embodiment, the location determinant module 148 may determinethat the vehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations 204 based onthe receipt of one or more sensing signals sent by the image sensors 134that indicate that the sensors 134 are able to and/or are capturingimages of the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier 104 asthe vehicle 102 is arriving towards the barrier 104. Additionally, oralternatively, the location determinant module 148 may determine thatthe vehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations 204 based on thereceipt of one or more sensing signals sent by the RADAR/LADAR sensors136 that the sensors 136 are capable of and/or are sensing obstaclesthat may be located within the full expanse of movement path of thebarrier 104.

If it is determined that the vehicle 102 reaches one or more of thesensing locations 204 (at block 410), the method 400 may proceed toblock 412, wherein the method 400 may include communicating with theimage sensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 of the vehicle 102to receive sensor data. In an exemplary embodiment, upon determiningthat the vehicle 102 has reached one of the sensing locations 204, thelocation determinant module 148 may communicate respective data to thebarrier status determinant module 152.

The method 400 may proceed to block 414, wherein the method 400 mayinclude receiving sensor data from the image sensors 134 and/or theRADAR/LADAR sensors 136. In one or more embodiments, upon receiving datafrom the location determinant module 148 pertaining to the vehicle 102reaching one of the sensing locations 204, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may responsively communicate with the imagesensors 134 to receive image data and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 toreceive sensor wave data pertaining to the movement path of the barrier104.

The method 400 may proceed to block 416, wherein the method 400 mayinclude determining if the sensor data is received from the imagesensors 134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136. In one embodiment, thebarrier status determinant module 152 may determine that sensor data isreceived from both of the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors136 based on the receipt of image data and sensor wave data respectivelyfrom the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136.Alternatively, if the barrier status determinant module 152 onlyreceives image data or only receives sensor wave data, upon the vehicle102 reaching one of the sensing locations, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may determine that the sensor data is notreceived from both sensors 134, 136.

If it is determined that sensor data is received from the image sensors134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 (at block 416), the method 400 mayproceed to block 418, wherein the method 400 may include aggregatingsensor data received from the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADARsensors 136. In an exemplary embodiment, upon the receipt of the imagedata from the image sensors 134 and the sensor data from the RADAR/LADARsensors 136, the barrier status determinant module 152 may utilize asensor data fusion logic to aggregate the image data and the sensor wavedata. In other words, data pertaining to one or more images of themovement path of the barrier 104 captured by the image sensors 134and/or the sensing of one or more possible obstacles located within themovement path of the barrier 104 may be combined in order to be analyzedas an aggregated sensor data package.

The method 400 may proceed to block 420, wherein the method 400 mayinclude analyzing the sensor data to determine if at least oneindividual or at least one object is located within the movement path ofthe barrier 104. In one embodiment, upon receiving image data from theimage sensors 134, the sensor wave data from the RADAR/LADAR sensors136, or upon aggregating the image data and the sensor wave data intothe aggregated sensor data package, the barrier status determinantmodule 152 may utilize logic to process the image data, sensor wavedata, and/or the aggregated data package. In one or more embodiments,the logic may include processing techniques such as feature extraction,RADAR/LADAR wave data evaluation, pattern recognition, density analysis,refraction analysis, reflection analysis, target analysis, and/oradditional sensing analysis techniques that may be utilized or executedas part of one or more algorithms to analyze the sensor data todetermine if at least one individual and/or at least one object islocated within the movement path of the barrier 104.

In one or more embodiments, the logic may take into account the barrierattributes that are retrieved from the barrier profile that may include,but are not limited to, the moving direction of the barrier 104 and datapertaining to driveways/roads leading up to the barrier 104 to moreaccurately determine if at least one individual and/or at least oneobject is located within the movement path of the barrier 104. Inparticular, the direction of the barrier 104 as it's opened and theslope of a surface leading up to the barrier 104 may be accounted forwhen determining if the individual(s) and/or object(s) are locatedwithin the movement path.

In an additional embodiment, the barrier status determinant module 152may utilize the TCU 120 to communicate with the external serverinfrastructure 144 through the internet cloud 126 to access and analyzebarrier image data provided by the barrier controller 108 in addition tothe aforementioned sensor data to determine if at least one individualor at least one object is located within the movement path of thebarrier 104. As discussed above, in one embodiment, the plurality ofcameras of the barrier image sensors 146 may be disposed above/adjacentto the barrier 104 or within the area enclosed by the barrier 104 tocapture images/video of the moving path of the barrier 104 andrespective barrier image data may be stored on the external serverinfrastructure 144 to be accessed and evaluated by the barrier movementcontrol application 106.

The method 400 may proceed to block 422, wherein the method 400 mayinclude determining at least one individual and/or at least one objectlocated within the movement path of the barrier 104. In an exemplaryembodiment, upon utilizing the logic to analyze the image data, sensorwave data, the barrier image data and/or the aggregated data package,the barrier status determinant module 152 may determine if at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is located within the movementpath of the barrier 104. In other words, based on the analysis of theimage data, sensor wave data, and/or the aggregated data, the barrierstatus determinant module 152 may determine if one or more individualsand/or one or more objects is located within the movement path of thebarrier 104 that may obstruct the automatic opening of the barrier 104as the vehicle 102 arrives towards the barrier 104.

If it is determined that at least one individual and/or at least oneobject is located within the movement path of the barrier 104 (at block422), the method 400 may proceed to block 424, wherein the method 400may include inhibiting sending at least one barrier control signal tothe barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate. In an exemplary embodiment, upon determining that at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is located within the movementpath of the barrier 104, the barrier status determinant module 152 maycommunicate respective data to the barrier control module 154. Uponreceiving the respective data indicating the presence of at least oneindividual and/or at least one object within the movement path of thebarrier 104, the barrier control module 154 may ensure that data is sentto the vehicle communication system 128 to thereby inhibit the sendingof the barrier control signal(s) to the barrier controller 108associated with the barrier 104. Consequently, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 inhibits the automatic sending of the barriercontrol signal(s) that occurs when the vehicle 102 enters the barrieropening zone 206 b based on the determination of the at least oneindividual and/or at least one object within the movement path of thebarrier 104.

The method 400 may proceed to block 426, wherein the method 400 mayinclude presenting the barrier status user interface with the barriermovement inhibition alert. In an exemplary embodiment, upon the barriercontrol module 154 receiving the data pertaining to the inhibition ofthe sending at least one barrier control signal to the barriercontroller 108, the barrier control module 154 may communicaterespective data to the barrier status presentation module 156. Thebarrier status presentation module 156 may responsively communicate withthe infotainment system 118 of the vehicle 102 to present the barriermovement inhibition alert on the display unit 114. As discussed below,with respect to FIG. 6, the barrier movement inhibition alert mayinclude a manual barrier movement user input that may be inputted by theuser to allow the sending of the barrier control signal to move thebarrier 104.

FIG. 4B is an illustrative example of a scenario in which the barriercontrol application 106 may inhibit sending of at least one barriercontrol signal during the arrival of the vehicle 102 towards the barrier104 according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown, the barrier 104which is included as an entry gate 432 may be automatically opened toallow the vehicle 102 to enter a premises upon the arrival of thevehicle 102. However, based on the analysis of sensor data to determineif at least one individual or at least one object is located within themovement path of the barrier 104 (as discussed with respect to block420), the barrier status determinant module 152 may determine that anobject 434 may be located within the movement path of the entry gate432. Therefore, the barrier control module 154 may inhibit sending ofthe at least one barrier control signal to the barrier controller 108 tothereby inhibit the automatic opening of the entry gate 432.

With reference again to FIG. 4A, if it is determined that at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is not located within the movementpath of the barrier 104 (at block 422), the method 400 may proceed toblock 428, wherein the method 400 may include determining if the vehicle102 enters the barrier opening zone 206 b. Upon the vehicle 102 enteringthe arrival status zone 202 b, the vehicle 102 may continue to travelthrough the arrival status zone 202 b towards the barrier 104. As thevehicle 102 is traveling through the arrival status zone 202 b anddetermines that there are no individuals and/or objects located withinthe movement path of the barrier 104, the location determinant module148 may access the barrier profile stored on the storage unit 116 andmay communicate with the navigation system 132 to determine if thevehicle 102 is entering any of the portions of the boundary 206 a of thebarrier opening zone 206 b. More specifically, the location determinantmodule 148 may continue to compare the locational coordinates of thevehicle 102 against the plurality of GPS coordinates associated withportions of the boundary 206 a to determine if they overlap with oneanother. If it is determined that the overlapping of the locationalcoordinates of the vehicle 102 occurs with the plurality of GPScoordinates associated with portions of the boundary 206 a, the barriercontrol module 154 determines that the vehicle 102 enters the barrieropening zone 206 b.

Upon determining that the vehicle 102 enters the barrier opening zone206 (at block 428), the method 400 may proceed to block 430, wherein themethod 400 may include sending at least one barrier control signal tothe barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate. In an exemplary embodiment, the barrier control module 154 mayutilize the current state of the barrier 104 as the closed state or thepartially opened state to accordingly send the one or more barriercontrol signals to remotely control the movement of the barrier 104 totraverse the barrier 104 to the opened state. More specifically, thebarrier control module 154 may utilize the vehicle communication system128 to send the one or more barrier control signals to the transceiver140 to traverse the barrier 104 from the closed state to the openedstate. Likewise, the barrier control module 154 may utilize the vehiclecommunication system 128 to send the one or more barrier control signalsto the transceiver 140 to traverse the barrier 104 from the partiallyopened state to the (fully) opened state. The barrier controller 108 mayevaluate the received barrier control signals and may responsivelytraverse the barrier 104 from the closed state or partially opened stateto the opened state.

In an additional embodiment, upon inhibiting the sending of the barriercontrol signal(s) to automatically open the barrier 104 (at block 424),the barrier control module 154 may communicate with the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 to determine if the at least one individualand/or at least one object has moved/been moved from the movement pathof the barrier 104 before the vehicle 102 enters the barrier openingzone 206 b. The barrier status determinant module 152 may utilize theimage sensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 to continuallyprovide sensor data to be analyzed by the module 152 to determine if theat least one individual and/or at least one object continues to belocated within the movement path of the barrier 104. If the barrierstatus determinant module 152 determines that the at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is no longer located within themovement path of the barrier 104, the barrier status determinant module152 may communicate respective data to the barrier control module 154and may consequently allow the sending of the barrier control signal(s)to the barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate (at block 430).

In one or more embodiments, upon sending the barrier control signal(s)to the barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate (at block 430), the barrier control module 154 may communicaterespective data to the barrier status determinant module 152 todetermine if the at least one individual and/or at least one object hasmoved/been moved within the movement path of the barrier 104 after thevehicle 102 has entered the barrier opening zone 206 b and the barriercontrol signal(s) has been sent to the barrier controller 108. Thebarrier status determinant module 152 may utilize the image sensors 134and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 to continually provide sensor data tobe analyzed by the module 152 to determine if the at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is (subsequently) located withinthe movement path of the barrier 104 after the barrier control signal(s)is sent.

In one configuration, if the barrier status determinant module 152determines that the at least one individual and/or at least one objectis located within the movement path of the barrier 104 after the sendingof the barrier control signal(s), the barrier status determinant module152 may communicate respective data to the barrier control module 154 tosend a subsequent barrier control signal(s) to cease movement of thebarrier 104. In another configuration, if the barrier status determinantmodule 152 determines that the at least one individual and/or at leastone object is located within the movement path of the barrier 104 afterthe sending of the barrier control signal(s), the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may communicate respective data to the barriercontrol module 154 to send a subsequent barrier control signal(s) totraverse the barrier 104 to the closed state.

FIG. 5A is a process flow diagram of a method 500 for inhibiting orproviding automatic movement of the barrier 104 when the vehicle 102 isdetermined to be departing away from the barrier 104 according to anexemplary embodiment. FIG. 5A will be described with reference to thecomponents of FIG. 1 though it is to be appreciated that the method 500of FIG. 5A may be used with other systems and/or components.Additionally, the method 500 of FIG. 5A will be described with referenceto the illustrative example of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 5A, the method500 may begin at block 502, wherein the method 500 may includedetermining if the vehicle 102 exits the departure status zone 302 b. Inone embodiment, the location determinant module 148 may determine thatthe vehicle 102 is departing away from the barrier 104 and maycommunicate the location of the vehicle 102 and the traveling directionof the vehicle 102 to the zone determinant module 150. As discussedabove, the zone determinant module 150 may determine the plurality ofzones associated with the barrier 104 that specifically pertain to thedeparture of the vehicle 102 away from the barrier 104.

As discussed above, upon determining the departure status zone 302 b(shown in FIG. 3), the zone determinant module 150 may populate thebarrier profile associated with the barrier 104 with the plurality ofGPS coordinates associated with portions the boundary 302 a of thedeparture status zone 302 b. In one embodiment, as the vehicle 102 isbeing driven, the location determinant module 148 may communicate withthe navigation system 132 to continually determine the locationalcoordinates associated with the vehicle 102 as provided by the GPS 132a.

The location determinant module 148 may also access the barrier profilestored on the storage unit 116 and may communicate with the navigationsystem 132 to determine if the vehicle 102 is exiting any of theportions of the boundary 302 a of the departure status zone 302 b. Morespecifically, the location determinant module 148 may continuallycompare the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102 against theplurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions of the boundary302 a to determine if they overlap with one another. If it is determinedthat the overlapping of the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102occurs with the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions ofthe boundary 302 a, the location determinant module 148 may determinethat the vehicle 102 exits the departure status zone 302 b. For example,if the vehicle 102 is being driven away from the barrier 104 (reversingaway from the barrier 104 down the driveway 310), the vehicle 102 mayexit the departure status zone 302 b. In such a scenario, the locationdeterminant module 148 may determine when the vehicle 102 exits thedeparture status zone 302 b once the vehicle 102 crosses one of theportions of the boundary 302 a.

If it is determined that the vehicle 102 exits the departure status zone302 b (at block 502), the method 500 may procced to block 504, whereinthe method 500 may include sending at least one status request signal tothe barrier controller 108. In an exemplary embodiment, upon thelocation determinant module 148 determining that the vehicle 102 iscrossing one of the portions of the boundary 302 a to exit the departurestatus zone 302 b (at block 502), the location determinant module 148may communicate respective data to the barrier status determinant module152. The barrier status determinant module 152 may responsively utilizethe vehicle communication system 128 to send (e.g., transmit) one ormore status request signals to the transceiver 140 to be evaluated bythe barrier controller 108 to determine the current state of the barrier104. In other words, the barrier status determinant module 152 may sendthe status request data signal(s) to determine if the barrier 104 iscurrently in the opened state, the closed state, or the partially openedstate.

The method 500 may proceed to block 506, wherein the method 500 mayinclude receiving at least one current state data signal from thebarrier controller 108. As discussed above, upon determining the currentstate of the barrier 104, the barrier controller 108 may utilize thetransceiver 140 to communicate the one or more current state datasignals that include the current state of the barrier 104 as the openedstate, the closed state, or the partially opened state to vehiclecommunication system 128.

The method 500 may proceed to block 508, wherein the method 500 mayinclude determining if the barrier 104 is in the opened state or thepartially opened state. Upon receiving the one or more current statedata signals that include the current state of the barrier 104, thevehicle communication system 128 may communicate the current state ofthe barrier 104 to the barrier status determinant module 152. Thebarrier status determinant module 152 may responsively determine if thecurrent state of the barrier 104 is in the opened state or the partiallyopened state. This determination may be made by the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 to determine if the user manually actuatedmovement of the barrier 104 to close the barrier 104 as the vehicle 102is departing away from the barrier 104.

If it is determined that the current state of the barrier 104 is theopen state or the partially opened state at block 508, the method 500may proceed to block 510, wherein the method 500 may include determiningif the vehicle 102 reaches one or more sensing locations. As discussedabove, during daily operation of the vehicle 102, when the vehicle 102is determined to be departing away from the barrier 104, the imagesensors 134, and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may be able to make oneor more sensor based determinations that may include specific areaswithin the vicinity of the barrier 104 at which the sensing locations304 are determined.

With respect to the departure of the vehicle 102 away from the barrier104, the sensing locations 304 are applied by the location determinantmodule 148 may be determined based on the locations at which the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 may sense the fullexpanse of the movement path of the barrier 104. As discussed above, thegeo-locations at which the image sensors 134 are initially capable ofcapturing images of the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier104 may be utilized separately or may be aggregated with thegeo-locations at which the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are initially capableof sensing obstacles within the full expanse of the movement path of thebarrier 104 as the vehicle 102 is departing away from the barrier 104.

In one embodiment, upon sending the status request signal(s), as thevehicle 102 continues to travel away from the barrier 104, the locationdeterminant module 148 may access the barrier profile associated withthe barrier 104 to retrieve the sensing locations 304 at which the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 are capable ofcapturing/sensing the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier104. As the vehicle 102 continues to travel and depart away from thebarrier 104, the location determinant module 148 may utilize informationrelated to the sensing locations 304 retrieved from the barrier profileto determine that the vehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations204.

In another embodiment, the location determinant module 148 may determinethat the vehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations 304 based onthe receipt of one or more sensing signals sent by the image sensors 134that indicate that the sensors 134 are able to and/or are capturingimages of the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier 104 asthe vehicle 102 is departing away from the barrier 104. Additionally, oralternatively, the location determinant module 148 may determine thatthe vehicle 102 reaches one of the sensing locations 204 based on thereceipt of one or more sensing signal sent by the RADAR/LADAR sensors136 that the sensors 136 are capable of and/or are sensing obstaclesthat may be located within the full expanse of movement path of thebarrier 104.

If it is determined that the vehicle 102 reaches one or more of thesensing locations 304 (at block 510), the method 500 may proceed toblock 512, wherein the method 500 may include communicating with theimage sensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 of the vehicle 102to receive sensor data. In an exemplary embodiment, upon determiningthat the vehicle 102 has reached one of the sensing locations 304, thelocation determinant module 148 may communicate respective data to thebarrier status determinant module 152.

The method 500 may proceed to block 514, wherein the method 400 mayinclude receiving sensor data from the image sensors 134 and/or theRADAR/LADAR sensors 136. In one or more embodiments, upon receiving datafrom the location determinant module 148 pertaining to the vehicle 102reaching one of the sensing locations 304, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may responsively communicate with the imagesensors 134 to receive image data and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 toreceive sensor wave data pertaining to the movement path of the barrier104.

The method 500 may proceed to block 516, wherein the method 500 mayinclude determining if the sensor data is received from the imagesensors 134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136. In one embodiment, thebarrier status determinant module 152 may determine that sensor data isreceived from both of the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors136 based on the receipt of image data and sensor wave data respectivelyfrom the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136.Alternatively, if the barrier status determinant module 152 onlyreceives image data or only receives sensor wave data upon the vehicle102 reaching one of the sensing locations, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may determine that the sensor data is notreceived from both sensors 134, 136.

If it is determined that sensor data is received from the image sensors134 and the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 (at block 516), the method 500 mayproceed to block 518, wherein the method 500 may include aggregatingsensor data received from the image sensors 134 and the RADAR/LADARsensors 136. As discussed above, the barrier status determinant module152 may utilize sensor data fusion logic to aggregate the image data andthe sensor wave data. In other words, data pertaining to one or moreimages of the movement path of the barrier 104 captured by the imagesensors 134 and/or the sensing of one or more possible obstacles locatedwithin the movement path of the barrier 104 may be combined in order tobe analyzed as an aggregated sensor data package.

The method 500 may proceed to block 520, wherein the method 500 mayinclude analyzing the sensor data to determine if at least oneindividual or at least one object is located within the movement path ofthe barrier 104. In one embodiment, upon receiving image data from theimage sensors 134, the sensor wave data from the RADAR/LADAR sensors136, or upon aggregating the image data and the sensor wave data intothe aggregated sensor data package, the barrier status determinantmodule 152 may utilize logic (discussed above with respect to block 518of FIG. 5) to process the image data, sensor wave data, and/or theaggregated data package.

In one or more embodiments, the logic may take into account the barrierattributes retrieved from the barrier profile, discussed above, that mayinclude, but are not limited to the moving direction of the barrier 104and data pertaining to driveways/roads leading up to the barrier 104 tomore accurately determine if at least one individual and/or at least oneobject is located within the movement path of the barrier 104. Inparticular, the direction of the barrier 104 as it's opened and theslope of a surface leading up to the barrier 104 may be accounted forwhen determining if the individual(s) and/or object(s) are locatedwithin the movement path. In an additional embodiment, the barrierstatus determinant module 152 may utilize the TCU 120 to communicatewith the external server infrastructure 144 through the internet cloud126 to access and analyze barrier image data provided by the barriercontroller 108 in addition to the aforementioned sensor data todetermine if at least one individual or at least one object is locatedwithin the movement path of the barrier 104.

The method 500 may proceed to block 522, wherein the method 500 mayinclude determining at least one individual and/or at least one objectlocated within the movement path of the barrier 104. In an exemplaryembodiment, upon utilizing the logic to analyze the image data, sensorwave data, the barrier image data and/or the aggregated data package,the barrier status determinant module 152 may determine if at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is located within the movementpath of the barrier 104. In other words, based on the analysis of theimage data, sensor wave data, and/or the aggregated data, the barrierstatus determinant module 152 may determine if one or more individualsand/or one or more objects is located within the movement path of thebarrier 104 that may obstruct the automatic closing of the barrier 104as the vehicle 102 departs away from the barrier 104.

If it is determined that at least one individual and/or at least oneobject is located within the movement path of the barrier 104 (at block522), the method 500 may proceed to block 524, wherein the method 500may include inhibiting sending at least one barrier control signal tothe barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate. In an exemplary embodiment, upon determining that at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is located within the movementpath of the barrier 104, the barrier status determinant module 152 maycommunicate respective data to the barrier control module 154. Uponreceiving the respective data indicating the presence of at least oneindividual and/or at least one object within the movement path of thebarrier 104, the barrier control module 154 may ensure that data is sentto the vehicle communication system 128 to thereby inhibit the sendingof the barrier control signal(s) to the barrier controller 108associated with the barrier 104. Consequently, the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 inhibits the automatic sending of the barriercontrol signal(s) that occurs when the vehicle 102 exits the barrierclosing zone 306 b based on the determination of the at least oneindividual and/or at least one object within the movement path of thebarrier 104.

The method 500 may proceed to block 526, wherein the method 500 mayinclude presenting the barrier status user interface with the barriermovement inhibition alert. In an exemplary embodiment, upon the barriercontrol module 154 receiving the data pertaining to the inhibition ofthe sending at least one barrier control signal to the barriercontroller 108, the barrier control module 154 may communicaterespective data to the barrier status presentation module 156. Thebarrier status presentation module 156 may responsively communicate withthe infotainment system 118 of the vehicle 102 to present the barriermovement inhibition alert on the display unit 114. As discussed below,with respect to FIG. 6, the barrier movement inhibition alert mayinclude a manual barrier movement user input that may be inputted by theuser to allow the sending of the barrier control signal to move thebarrier 104.

FIG. 5B is an illustrative example of a scenario in which the barriercontrol application 106 may inhibit sending of at least one barriercontrol signal during the departure of the vehicle 102 away from thebarrier 104 according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown, the barrier104 which is included as a garage door 532 may be automatically closedfrom the fully opened state when the vehicle 102 departs away from thebarrier 104. However, based on the analysis of sensor data to determineif at least one individual or at least one object is located within themovement path of the barrier 104 (as discussed with respect to block520), the barrier status determinant module 152 may determine that anobject 534 may be located within the movement path of the barrier 104.Therefore, the barrier control module 154 may inhibit sending the atleast one barrier control signal to the barrier controller 108 tothereby inhibit the automatic closing of the garage door 532.

With reference again to FIG. 5A, if it is determined that at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is not located within the movementpath of the barrier 104 (at block 522), the method 500 may proceed toblock 528, wherein the method 500 includes determining if the vehicle102 exits the barrier closing zone 306 b. In one embodiment, upon thevehicle 102 exiting the departure status zone 302 b, the vehicle 102 maycontinue to travel through the barrier closing zone 306 b as the vehicle102 continues to depart away from the barrier 104. As the vehicle 102 istraveling through the barrier closing zone 306 b, the locationdeterminant module 148 may access the barrier profile stored on thestorage unit 116 and may communicate with the navigation system 132 todetermine if the vehicle 102 is exiting (e.g., crossing) any of theportions of the boundary 306 a of the barrier closing zone 306 b. Morespecifically, the location determinant module 148 may continue tocompare the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102 against theplurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions of the boundary306 a to determine if they overlap with one another. If it is determinedthat the overlapping of the locational coordinates of the vehicle 102occurs with the plurality of GPS coordinates associated with portions ofthe boundary 306 a, the barrier control module 154 determines that thevehicle 102 exits the barrier closing zone 306 b.

Upon determining that the vehicle 102 exists the barrier closing zone306 b (at block 528), the method 500 may proceed to block 530, whereinthe method 500 may include sending at least one barrier control signalto the barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the closedstate. In an exemplary embodiment, the barrier control module 154 mayutilize the current state of the barrier 104 as the opened state or thepartially opened state to accordingly send the one or more barriercontrol signals to remotely control the movement of the barrier 104 totraverse the barrier 104 to the closed state. More specifically, thebarrier control module 154 may utilize the vehicle communication system128 to send the one or more barrier control signals to the transceiver140 to traverse the barrier 104 from the opened state to the closedstate. Likewise, the barrier control module 154 may utilize the vehiclecommunication system 128 to send the one or more barrier control signalsto the transceiver 140 to traverse the barrier 104 from the partiallyopened state to the (fully) closed state. The barrier controller 108 mayevaluate the received barrier control signals and may responsivelytraverse the barrier 104 from the opened state or partially opened stateto the closed state.

In an additional embodiment, upon inhibiting the sending of the barriercontrol signal(s) to automatically open the barrier 104 (at block 524),the barrier control module 154 may communicate with the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 to determine if the at least one individualand/or at least one object has moved/been moved from the movement pathof the barrier 104 before the vehicle 102 exits the barrier closing zone306 b. The barrier status determinant module 152 may utilize the imagesensors 134 and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 to continually providesensor data to be analyzed by the module 152 to determine if the atleast one individual and/or at least one object continues to be locatedwithin the movement path of the barrier 104. If the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 determines that the at least one individualand/or at least one object is no longer located within the movement pathof the barrier 104, the barrier status determinant module 152 maycommunicate respective data to the barrier control module 154 and mayconsequently allow the sending of the barrier control signal(s) to thebarrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the closed state(at block 530).

In one or more embodiments, upon sending the barrier control signal(s)to the barrier controller 108 to traverse the barrier 104 to the closedstate (at block 530), the barrier control module 154 may communicaterespective data to the barrier status determinant module 152 todetermine if the at least one individual and/or at least one object hasmoved/been moved within the movement path of the barrier 104 after thevehicle 102 has exited the barrier closing zone 306 b and the barriercontrol signal(s) has been sent to the barrier controller 108. Thebarrier status determinant module 152 may utilize the image sensors 134and/or the RADAR/LADAR sensors 136 to continually provide sensor data tobe analyzed by the module 152 to determine if the at least oneindividual and/or at least one object is (subsequently) located withinthe movement path of the barrier 104 after the barrier control signal(s)is sent.

In one configuration, if the barrier status determinant module 152determines that the at least one individual and/or at least one objectis located within the movement path of the barrier 104 after the sendingof the barrier control signal(s), the barrier status determinant module152 may communicate respective data to the barrier control module 154 tosend a subsequent barrier control signal(s) to cease movement of thebarrier 104. In another configuration, if the barrier status determinantmodule 152 determines that the at least one individual and/or at leastone object is located within the movement path of the barrier 104 afterthe sending of the barrier control signal(s), the barrier statusdeterminant module 152 may communicate respective data to the barriercontrol module 154 to send a subsequent barrier control signal(s) totraverse the barrier 104 to the opened state.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative example of the barrier movement inhibitionalert 602 presented on the display unit 114 of the vehicle 102 accordingto an exemplary embodiment. As discussed, the barrier movementinhibition alert 602 may be presented when the barrier controlapplication 106 inhibits the sending of at least one barrier controlsignal to the barrier control to traverse the barrier 104 to the openedstate or the closed state. As shown, the barrier movement inhibitionalert 602 may include a manual barrier movement user input 604 that maybe inputted by the user to manually override inhibiting of the sendingof the at least one barrier control signal. In other words, upon theinhibiting of the automatic movement of the barrier 104 by theapplication 106, the user may input the manual barrier movement userinput 604 to manually actuate the opening and/or closing of the barrier104.

In one embodiment, the barrier movement inhibition alert 602 mayadditionally include the current status of the barrier 606 as determinedbased on the vehicle 102 entering the arrival status zone 202 b or thevehicle 102 exiting the departure status zone 302 b. Additionally, thebarrier movement inhibition alert 602 may include the barrier traversinglevel 608 that indicates the opening/closing level of the barrier 104.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram of a method 700 for inhibitingautomatic movement of the barrier 104 according to an exemplaryembodiment. FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the components ofFIG. 1 though it is to be appreciated that the method of FIG. 7 may beused with other systems and/or components. The method 700 may begin atblock 702, wherein the method 700 may include determining a currentstate of the barrier 104 when a vehicle 102 travels through at least onefirst zone associated with a barrier 104. The method 700 may proceed toblock 704, wherein the method 700 may include analyzing sensor data todetermine if at least one: individual or object is located within amovement path of the barrier 104. As discussed above, at least onebarrier control signal is sent to automatically control movement to openor close the barrier based on the current state of the barrier.

The method 700 may proceed to block 706, wherein the method 700 mayinclude inhibiting a sending of a barrier control signal that isautomatically sent to move the barrier 104 once the vehicle 102 travelsthrough at least one second zone upon determining that at least one:individual or object is located within the movement path of the barrier104. The method 700 may proceed to block 708, wherein the method 700 mayinclude presenting a user interface alert relating to inhibiting theautomatic movement of the barrier 104. The user interface alert includesa manual barrier movement user input that may be inputted to send the atleast one barrier control signal to move the barrier.

It should be apparent from the foregoing description that variousexemplary embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware.Furthermore, various exemplary embodiments may be implemented asinstructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium,such as a volatile or non-volatile memory, which may be read andexecuted by at least one processor to perform the operations describedin detail herein. A machine-readable storage medium may include anymechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine, suchas a personal or laptop computer, a server, or other computing device.Thus, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium excludestransitory signals but may include both volatile and non-volatilememories, including but not limited to read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storagemedia, flash-memory devices, and similar storage media.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any blockdiagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitryembodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will beappreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transitiondiagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes whichmay be substantially represented in machine readable media and soexecuted by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer orprocessor is explicitly shown.

It will be appreciated that various implementations of theabove-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives orvarieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other differentsystems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen orunanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvementstherein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which arealso intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method forinhibiting automatic movement of a barrier, comprising: determining acurrent state of the barrier when a vehicle travels through at least onefirst zone associated with the barrier; analyzing sensor data todetermine if at least one individual or object is located within amovement path of the barrier, wherein at least one barrier controlsignal is sent to automatically control movement to open or close thebarrier based on the current state of the barrier; inhibiting a sendingof the at least one barrier control signal from the vehicle to a barriercontroller associated with the barrier that is automatically sent tomove the barrier once the vehicle travels through at least one secondzone upon determining that the at least one individual or object islocated within the movement path of the barrier; and presenting a userinterface alert relating to inhibiting the automatic movement of thebarrier upon inhibiting the sending of the at least one barrier controlsignal from the vehicle.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein determining the current state of the barrier includesdetermining that the barrier is at least one of: an opened state, apartially opened state, and a closed state.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein analyzing sensor data includes receivingsensor data from at least one of: image sensors and RADAR/LADAR sensorswhen the vehicle reaches at least one sensing location that pertains toat least one of: the arrival of the vehicle towards the barrier and thedeparture of the vehicle away from the barrier.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the at least one sensinglocation is determined based on a capability of at least one of: theimage sensors to capture images of a full expanse of the movement pathof barrier and the RADAR/LADAR sensors to sense obstacles that may belocated within the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier. 5.The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein image data isreceived from the image sensors and sensor wave data is received fromthe RADAR/LADAR sensors, wherein the image data and the sensor wave datais aggregated into a sensor data package, wherein the sensor datapackage is analyzed to determine if the at least one: individual orobject is located within the movement path of the barrier.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the at least one barriercontrol signal is sent to the barrier controller associated with thebarrier to traverse the barrier to an opened state upon determining thatthe at least one: individual or object is not located within themovement path of the barrier when the vehicle is arriving towards thebarrier and when the current state of the barrier is determined to be aclosed state or a partially opened state.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 6, wherein the at least one barrier control signal issent to the barrier controller associated with the barrier to traversethe barrier to the closed state upon determining that the at least one:individual or object is not located within the movement path of thebarrier when the vehicle is departing away from the barrier and thecurrent state of the barrier is determined to be the opened state or thepartially opened state.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6,wherein inhibiting the sending of the at least one barrier controlsignal includes communicating data that indicates the determination thatthe at least one: individual or object is located within the movementpath of the barrier to a vehicle communication system to inhibit thesending of the at least one barrier control signal from the vehicle tothe barrier controller associated with the barrier.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein presenting the userinterface alert relating to inhibiting the automatic movement of thebarrier includes presenting a manual barrier movement user input thatmay be inputted to send the at least one barrier control signal to movethe barrier.
 10. A system for inhibiting automatic movement of abarrier, comprising: a memory storing instructions when executed by aprocessor cause the processor to: determine a current state of thebarrier when a vehicle travels through at least one first zoneassociated with the barrier; analyze sensor data to determine if atleast one individual or object is located within a movement path of thebarrier, wherein at least one barrier control signal is sent toautomatically control movement to open or close the barrier based on thecurrent state of the barrier; inhibit a sending of the at least onebarrier control signal from the vehicle to a barrier controllerassociated with the barrier that is automatically sent to move thebarrier once the vehicle travels through at least one second zone upondetermining that the at least one individual or object is located withinthe movement path of the barrier; and present a user interface alertrelating to inhibiting the automatic movement of the barrier uponinhibiting the sending of the at least one barrier control signal fromthe vehicle.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein determining the currentstate of the barrier includes determining that the barrier is at leastone of: an opened state, a partially opened state, and a closed state.12. The system of claim 10, wherein analyzing sensor data includesreceiving sensor data from at least one of: image sensors andRADAR/LADAR sensors when the vehicle reaches at least one sensinglocation that pertains to at least one of: the arrival of the vehicletowards the barrier and the departure of the vehicle away from thebarrier.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one sensinglocation is determined based on a capability of at least one of: theimage sensors to capture images of a full expanse of the movement pathof barrier and the RADAR/LADAR sensors to sense obstacles that may belocated within the full expanse of the movement path of the barrier. 14.The system of claim 12, wherein image data is received from the imagesensors and sensor wave data is received from the RADAR/LADAR sensors,wherein the image data and the sensor wave data is aggregated into asensor data package, wherein the sensor data package is analyzed todetermine if the at least one: individual or object is located withinthe movement path of the barrier.
 15. The system of claim 14, whereinthe at least one barrier control signal is sent to the barriercontroller associated with the barrier to traverse the barrier to anopened state upon determining that the at least one: individual orobject is not located within the movement path of the barrier when thevehicle is arriving towards the barrier and when the current state ofthe barrier is determined to be a closed state or a partially openedstate.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one barriercontrol signal is sent to the barrier controller associated with thebarrier to traverse the barrier to the closed state upon determiningthat the at least one: individual or object is not located within themovement path of the barrier when the vehicle is departing away from thebarrier and the current state of the barrier is determined to be theopened state or the partially opened state.
 17. The system of claim 15,wherein inhibiting the sending of the at least one barrier controlsignal includes communicating data that indicates the determination thatthe at least one: individual or object is located within the movementpath of the barrier to a vehicle communication system to inhibit thesending of the at least one barrier control signal from the vehicle tothe barrier controller associated with the barrier.
 18. The system ofclaim 10, wherein presenting the user interface alert relating toinhibiting the automatic movement of the barrier includes presenting amanual barrier movement user input that may be inputted to send the atleast one barrier control signal to move the barrier.
 19. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructionsthat when executed by a computer, which includes a processor, perform amethod, the method comprising: determining a current state of a barrierwhen a vehicle travels through at least one first zone associated withthe barrier; analyzing sensor data to determine if at least oneindividual or object is located within a movement path of the barrier,wherein at least one barrier control signal is sent to automaticallycontrol movement to open or close the barrier based on the current stateof the barrier; inhibiting a sending of the at least one barrier controlsignal from the vehicle to a barrier controller associated with thebarrier that is automatically sent to move the barrier once the vehicletravels through at least one second zone upon determining that the atleast one individual or object is located within the movement path ofthe barrier; and presenting a user interface alert relating toinhibiting the automatic movement of the barrier upon inhibiting thesending of the at least one barrier control signal from the vehicle. 20.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, whereininhibiting the sending of the at least one barrier control signalincludes communicating data that indicates the determination that the atleast one: individual or object is located within the movement path ofthe barrier to a vehicle communication system to inhibit the sending ofthe at least one barrier control signal from the vehicle to the barriercontroller associated with the barrier.